Viking Fund Management LLC Invests $9.15 Million in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 130,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,151,000. Citigroup makes up approximately 1.4% of Viking Fund Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of C. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Citigroup by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,919,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,492,238,000 after buying an additional 791,758 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,027,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,680,713 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Citigroup by 3.2% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,970,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,813,544,000 after acquiring an additional 911,694 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 5.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 17,428,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,999,000 after purchasing an additional 913,231 shares during the period. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 16,883,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,900,000 after acquiring an additional 242,545 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

C has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $77.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

Citigroup Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE C opened at $81.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.77. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.95 and a 12 month high of $81.85. The company has a market capitalization of $154.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.49 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 15th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.