Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Acquires Shares of 43,744 Citigroup Inc. $C

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 43,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,104,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of C. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 92.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. High Note Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Citigroup by 107.7% in the 4th quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial set a $147.00 price target on Citigroup in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore set a $139.00 price target on Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $139.00 price objective on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Citigroup from $137.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.62.

Citigroup News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup reshuffled senior leadership, naming Margo Pilic head of strategy, M&A, and investor relations, a move that could improve execution and simplify decision-making as CEO Jane Fraser continues the bank’s transformation. Citigroup Reshapes Leadership As It Pushes Into Tokenized Deposits
• Positive Sentiment: The bank is joining JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and other large lenders on a blockchain-based tokenized deposit network, signaling that Citi wants to stay competitive in next-generation payments and possibly benefit from lower-friction transaction infrastructure. JPMorgan, Citi and Big Banks Plan New Tokenized Deposit System to Answer Crypto
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also responding to Citi’s growing use of AI in operations, including a document-review system that cuts account-opening review time from about an hour to 15 minutes, which may point to better efficiency and cost savings over time. Citi Used AI to Shrink a 60-Minute Document Review to 15 Minutes
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi also announced redemptions of $3.15 billion of notes due in 2027, a routine balance-sheet management move that does not appear to be a major catalyst on its own. Citigroup Announces $2.75 Billion Redemption…
• Neutral Sentiment: Several headlines about Citi’s stock becoming overextended and the broader market looking “frothy” may temper enthusiasm, but they read more like caution flags than direct negatives for the company’s fundamentals. The stock market is at its frothiest…

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In other news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total transaction of $265,260.10. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,908.20. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.41, for a total value of $3,285,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 182,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,919,511.02. This represents a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Down 1.9%

C stock opened at $132.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.11 and a 12-month high of $135.83. The stock has a market cap of $226.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50-day moving average is $124.87 and its 200 day moving average is $116.75.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $24.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.96 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 9.35%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Citigroup’s payout ratio is currently 29.74%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $30.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 13.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Citigroup

Citigroup Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in New York City with roots tracing back to the City Bank of New York, founded in 1812. The modern Citigroup was created through the 1998 merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group and has since operated as a diversified bank holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments and institutions worldwide.

Citi’s principal businesses include retail and commercial banking, credit card and consumer lending products, wealth management and private banking, and a full suite of institutional services.