Is Citigroup Inc. (C) A Good Stock To Buy?

Because Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) has witnessed falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there was a specific group of funds that slashed their holdings heading into 2016. For example, Bruce Berkowitz’s Fairholme (FAIRX) dropped the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds watched by Insider Monkey, comprising close to $149.3 million in stock, and Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $87.8 million worth of shares. Overall, the total hedge fund interest was cut by 15 funds during the fourth quarter.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C). We will take a look at HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HSBC), Novo Nordisk A/S (ADR) (NYSE:NVO), Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL), and Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to Citigroup’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 36 funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was close to $3.0 billion, which compares to $9.97 billion in Citigroup’s case. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HSBC) is the least popular one with only eight bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.