Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Boosts Holdings in Citigroup Inc. $C

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 89.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,061 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,947 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $2,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Truist Financial Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 16,744 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 98,082 shares during the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Citigroup in the fourth quarter valued at $7,165,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 12,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted 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 purchasing an additional 61,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

C has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Truist Financial set a $147.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Citigroup in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Citigroup from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a report on Friday, May 8th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.62.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In related news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,527,908.20. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $3,285,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 182,022 shares in the company, valued at $23,919,511.02. This represents a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about 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…

Citigroup Trading Down 1.9%

C stock opened at $132.62 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.75. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.11 and a 52-week high of $135.83. The firm has a market cap of $226.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid 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 of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $30.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management 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.