The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Citigroup (NYSE:C) Price Target to $80.00

Citigroup (NYSE:C) had its target price lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $90.00 to $80.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

C has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays raised Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Citigroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Citigroup from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.53.

Citigroup Stock Performance

NYSE:C opened at $71.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. Citigroup has a 52-week low of $53.51 and a 52-week high of $84.74.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. Citigroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Citigroup will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 217,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,112.51. The trade was a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 103,590 shares of company stock worth $8,523,149. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citigroup

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 36,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,536,000 after purchasing an additional 27,856 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its holdings in Citigroup by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,852,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Citigroup by 168.7% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 12,280 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Citigroup by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 354,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,236,000 after acquiring an additional 8,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in shares of Citigroup by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 200,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,139,000 after purchasing an additional 22,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

About Citigroup

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.