Citigroup Inc. $C Shares Sold by Cibc World Market Inc.

Cibc World Market Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 28.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 845,493 shares of the company’s stock after selling 339,601 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $118,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Citigroup by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 163,239,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,048,467,000 after acquiring an additional 4,938,923 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Citigroup by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,252,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,036,712,000 after purchasing an additional 189,548 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Citigroup by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,196,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,990,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326,224 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Citigroup by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 33,887,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,954,307,000 after purchasing an additional 846,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Citigroup by 2.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 26,869,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,047,215,000 after purchasing an additional 728,043 shares in the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on C shares. Argus set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $135.50 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.22.

Key Citigroup News

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic IPO role could boost fee revenue and deal visibility. Citigroup is reportedly being added to the group of leading banks guiding Anthropic toward a potential initial public offering. A role on a large, prominent AI-company listing could generate underwriting fees and strengthen Citi’s capital-markets franchise. Anthropic adds Citigroup to top banks guiding its IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup received strong growth-oriented stock-market recognition. A recent ranking identified Citigroup and Goldman Sachs among financial giants receiving “buy” growth grades, reinforcing the view that Citi’s earnings and business outlook compare favorably with peers. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs lead as most financial giants earn buy growth grades
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi remains constructive on broader equity markets. The bank maintained an overweight view on equities and said it would use any weakness before the U.S. midterm elections to add exposure. This may support confidence in Citi’s research and client-facing businesses, although it does not directly change the company’s earnings outlook. S&P 500 may pull back before midterms, but Citi says buy the dip
• Negative Sentiment: Credit-quality concerns remain a risk. Citigroup’s July card delinquencies edged higher, although lower charge-offs provided some offsetting relief. Investors may continue monitoring consumer credit trends for signs of pressure on asset quality and loan-loss provisions. C’s July Card Delinquencies Tick Up

Citigroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE C opened at $131.46 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $224.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.12. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $92.84 and a twelve month high of $147.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $137.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $24.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.74 billion. Citigroup had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 10.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Citigroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This is an increase from Citigroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 28.94%.

About Citigroup

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.