44 Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Citigroup Inc. $C

44 Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,701 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,196 shares during the quarter. Citigroup accounts for approximately 1.3% of 44 Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. 44 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $3,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. bought a new position in Citigroup in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Citigroup by 92.2% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. High Note Wealth LLC raised its stake in Citigroup by 107.7% during the fourth quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Citigroup during the third quarter valued at $33,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Citigroup

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup announced a private credit partnership with BlackRock’s HPS Investment Partners, a large €15 billion deal aimed at expanding direct lending across Europe, the U.K., and later the Middle East. The move could help Citi deepen its presence in private credit and generate new fee income. Citigroup (C) Forms Private Credit Partnership With BlackRock
• Positive Sentiment: Citi’s wealth business is also expanding, with management saying a significant share of new global hiring will be focused on Asia, where the private bank is growing faster and producing better productivity. That supports the bank’s restructuring story and long-term profitability goals. Citi to boost Asia wealth business with ‘significant’ hires, global head says
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup shareholder approval of an expanded stock incentive plan suggests investors are backing management’s compensation and retention strategy, which can help support execution on the company’s turnaround plan. Citigroup Shareholders Approve Expanded Stock Incentive Plan
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup also continues to benefit from a broader favorable view from analysts, including comments that Q1 results confirmed improving earnings momentum. Citigroup Upgraded As Q1 Results Confirm Earnings Improvement Direction For Banking Giant
• Neutral Sentiment: Separate commentary noted Citi expects India IPO activity to recover later this year, which is positive for capital markets activity but is more of a medium-term driver than an immediate stock catalyst. Citi sees India IPOs hitting fresh records despite challenges
• Negative Sentiment: One potential overhang is governance pressure: a separate report said more Citi shareholders voted against the bank’s say-on-pay resolution, reflecting concern about executive compensation and Jane Fraser’s pay package. More Citi shareholders vote ‘no’ on say-on-pay

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on C shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Citigroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Citigroup from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $147.00 price objective on Citigroup in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In other Citigroup news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 182,022 shares in the company, valued at $23,919,511.02. This trade represents a 12.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total value of $265,260.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,908.20. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of C stock opened at $125.10 on Monday. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.65 and a 1 year high of $135.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.93. The company has a market cap of $213.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.14.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.43. Citigroup had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 9.35%.The firm had revenue of $24.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.74%.

Citigroup declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $30.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.