Citigroup Inc. $C Shares Sold by Ignite Planners LLC

Key Points

• Ignite Planners LLC cut its Citigroup stake by 59.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,985 shares and leaving it with 6,072 shares valued at about $703,000.
• Citigroup reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.06 and revenue of $24.63 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue also rose 14.1% year over year.
• The bank is returning capital to shareholders through a $30 billion stock buyback authorization and a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, while analysts broadly remain constructive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating.

Ignite Planners LLC decreased its position in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 59.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,072 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,985 shares during the quarter. Ignite Planners LLC's holdings in Citigroup were worth $703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 81.8% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 103,881 shares of the company's stock worth $12,122,000 after purchasing an additional 46,728 shares during the period. Texas Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. Texas Bank & Trust Co now owns 3,753 shares of the company's stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth about $4,887,000. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth about $204,000. Finally, Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the company's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Citigroup Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:C opened at $125.10 on Friday. Citigroup Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.65 and a 12-month high of $135.29. The company has a market capitalization of $213.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $121.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $24.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.96 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 9.35%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.65 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The firm 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 1.9%. 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 stock buyback program on Thursday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on C shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Citigroup from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Citigroup from $140.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Citigroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Citigroup from $137.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued 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. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Citigroup presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $137.62.

Key Headlines 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

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In other news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 12,194 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

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.

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