Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Raises Position in Citigroup Inc. $C

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 89.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,061 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,947 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $2,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Citigroup by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 375,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,873,000 after acquiring an additional 16,744 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in Citigroup by 17.3% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 663,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,337,000 after acquiring an additional 98,082 shares in the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at $7,165,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Citigroup by 166.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after acquiring an additional 12,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in Citigroup by 21.9% in the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 341,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,700,000 after acquiring an additional 61,500 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on C. Zacks Research cut Citigroup from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Truist Financial set a $147.00 price objective on Citigroup in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore set a $139.00 price objective on Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $139.00 price objective on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.62.

Key Citigroup News

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, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $3,285,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 182,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,919,511.02. This represents a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total value of $265,260.10. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,908.20. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Citigroup Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE C opened at $132.62 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $124.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.75. Citigroup Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.11 and a 52-week high of $135.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

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

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is 29.74%.

Citigroup declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $30.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Company 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.