Rafferty Asset Management LLC Buys 20,442 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 667,254 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,442 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $46,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Core Alternative Capital raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. grew its position in Citigroup by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new position in Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citigroup news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 4,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.26, for a total value of $301,504.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $890,656.48. The trade was a 25.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total value of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,112.51. This represents a 21.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Citigroup Stock Down 0.5%

C opened at $75.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $140.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.30. Citigroup Inc. has a one year low of $53.51 and a one year high of $84.74. The business’s fifty day moving average is $67.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.72.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.12. Citigroup had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 6.62%. The company had revenue of $21.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.34 billion. Analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 35.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

C has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Citigroup from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Citigroup from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.04.

Citigroup Company Profile

Citigroup Inc, a diversified financial service holding company, provides various financial product and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions worldwide. It operates through five segments: Services, Markets, Banking, U.S. Personal Banking, and Wealth. The Services segment includes Treasury and Trade Solutions, which provides cash management, trade, and working capital solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public sector organizations; and Securities Services, such as cross-border support for clients, local market expertise, post-trade technologies, data solutions, and various securities services solutions.