Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Position in Citigroup Inc. $C

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,036,831 shares of the company’s stock after selling 311,577 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.24% of Citigroup worth $457,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,800,944,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Citigroup by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 163,239,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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 position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at $298,082,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Citigroup by 291.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,319,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,978,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Citigroup by 52.1% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,304,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $538,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816,786 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Citigroup News

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup received bullish analyst attention, including a Bank of America price target increase to $176 and a separate UBS target hike to $150, signaling confidence in the bank’s earnings outlook and upside potential.
• Positive Sentiment: The company was also cited as benefiting from a strong banking backdrop ahead of Q2 earnings, with Wall Street expecting higher revenue and profit growth for financial stocks overall.
• Positive Sentiment: Citi expanded its commodities franchise by joining London Precious Metals Clearing Limited and advising StepStone Group on a landmark $3.3 billion structured solutions vehicle, both of which reinforce its capital-markets and clearing capabilities.
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup heads into its July 14 earnings release with investor expectations elevated after a strong recent share-price run, so near-term moves may reflect positioning ahead of results rather than a fundamental change.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles also noted that Citi is projected to report earnings next week and that financial stocks broadly remain in focus as investors look for confirmation of loan-growth and net-interest-margin trends.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on C shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $140.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Citigroup from $170.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays upped their target price on Citigroup from $146.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Citigroup in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Citigroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Citigroup Stock Performance

Shares of C opened at $137.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.59 and a 1 year high of $147.96. The company’s fifty day moving average is $133.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.55.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $24.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.96 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 182,022 shares in the company, valued at $23,919,511.02. This trade represents a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of Citigroup 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,908.20. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.