Citigroup Inc. $C Shares Sold by Capital World Investors

Capital World Investors cut its position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,712,093 shares of the company’s stock after selling 550,533 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned approximately 2.61% of Citigroup worth $5,450,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth about $2,800,944,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 163,239,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,048,467,000 after buying an additional 4,938,923 shares during the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth about $298,082,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 291.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,319,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,978,000 after buying an additional 2,008,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup by 52.1% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,304,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $538,389,000 after buying an additional 1,816,786 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Citigroup from $140.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Evercore set a $139.00 target price on Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays upped their target price on Citigroup from $146.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.62.

Citigroup News Summary

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 Buying and Selling

In other Citigroup news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the 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 owned 12,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,908.20. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the 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 $23,919,511.02. This represents a 12.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of C stock opened at $132.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $226.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50 day moving average is $124.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.75. 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.

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

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

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $30.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 13.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically 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.