Panagora Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Citigroup Inc. $C

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 488,963 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 36,969 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $57,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of C. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Citigroup by 166.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 12,499 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Citigroup by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 1,669 shares during the period. United Bank acquired a new stake in Citigroup during the 2nd quarter worth $972,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Citigroup by 3,016.7% during the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Citigroup by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 15,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 3,238 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Citigroup news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 182,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,919,511.02. This represents a 12.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 value of $265,260.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,908.20. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Key Citigroup News

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup launched tokenized Digital Depositary Receipts, creating a new blockchain-based way for clients to gain exposure to private companies and for issuers to tap liquidity, reinforcing Citi’s push into next-generation capital markets. Citigroup Is Rolling Out Tokenized Shares of Private Companies
• Positive Sentiment: Related coverage said Citi is expanding access to private markets with tokenized private-share trading, which could open a new fee-generating business line and strengthen its innovation story with large clients. Citigroup Expands Access to Private Markets With Tokenized Depositary Receipts
• Positive Sentiment: Trump praised Citigroup and CEO Jane Fraser as a top M&A adviser, which helped fuel momentum and reinforced confidence in Citi’s investment banking comeback. Citigroup shares outperform down market after Trump endorsement
• Positive Sentiment: Citi also continued building out its consumer and retail investment banking franchise with a new managing director hire, suggesting management is still investing in growth areas. Citi hires Ryan Beaupré as MD in consumer and retail investment banking push
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi completed the sale of its Polish consumer banking business, continuing its multi-year retreat from underperforming overseas markets. This supports simplification, but it also shows ongoing shrinkage in some international operations. Citi’s overseas retreat advances with sale of Polish business
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that regulators are probing banks’ use of AI could raise compliance scrutiny for the sector, but there was no Citi-specific issue mentioned. Bank Regulators Probe Industry Use of AI

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on C shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Citigroup from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $139.00 target price on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.62.

Citigroup Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of C opened at $139.68 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.11 and a 1-year high of $141.12. The stock has a market cap of $238.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.19.

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

Citigroup announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

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.