JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Citigroup (NYSE:C) Price Target to $75.50

Citigroup (NYSE:C) had its price target dropped by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $85.50 to $75.50 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 30.17% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Citigroup from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.23.

Citigroup Price Performance

C stock opened at $58.00 on Thursday. Citigroup has a one year low of $53.51 and a one year high of $84.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.29. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Citigroup will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 13.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In related news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Anand Selvakesari sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total transaction of $2,433,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,586,498. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Citigroup

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in C. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth $1,935,599,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in Citigroup by 455.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 31,352,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,206,908,000 after acquiring an additional 25,705,141 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Citigroup by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,362,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,418,754,000 after acquiring an additional 7,863,718 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in Citigroup by 90.2% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,326,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,120,000 after purchasing an additional 3,947,912 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.