Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Holdings in Citigroup Inc. $C

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 34,196,783 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,326,224 shares during the quarter. Citigroup makes up 1.0% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $3,990,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Citigroup by 92.2% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 319 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. High Note Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Citigroup by 107.7% in the fourth quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 270 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Citigroup

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…

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on C. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore set a $139.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $140.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $147.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.41, for a total value of $3,285,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 182,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,919,511.02. The trade was a 12.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of Citigroup stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total transaction of $265,260.10. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:C opened at $132.62 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $226.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.12. 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 twelve month low of $76.11 and a twelve month high of $135.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.89.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.96 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given 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 approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $30.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Profile

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.