Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Purchases 121,130 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 1,328.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 130,248 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 121,130 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $8,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Citigroup by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 9,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Citigroup by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 64,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,295,000 after purchasing an additional 3,346 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC acquired a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,298,000. Essex Savings Bank acquired a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $243,000. Finally, Country Club Bank GFN acquired a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,928,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Citigroup Price Performance

NYSE:C traded up $1.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $65.87. The company had a trading volume of 12,935,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,829,383. Citigroup Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.17 and a 52-week high of $67.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.95. The company has a market capitalization of $125.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.13. Citigroup had a net margin of 4.95% and a return on equity of 6.26%. The business had revenue of $20.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. This is a positive change from Citigroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Argus upped their price objective on Citigroup from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Citigroup from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a report on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.06.

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.