Prudential PLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Citigroup Inc. $C

Key Points

• Prudential PLC cut its Citigroup stake by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 18,824 shares and leaving it with 210,567 shares valued at about $24.6 million.
• Citigroup reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.06 and revenue of $24.63 billion, both ahead of analyst estimates and up sharply year over year.
• The company is returning capital to shareholders through a newly authorized $30 billion buyback program and a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, equal to a 1.8% annualized yield.

Prudential PLC decreased its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,567 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,824 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Citigroup were worth $24,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in C. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 12,499 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 20.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,805 shares of the company's stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,669 shares during the period. United Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the second quarter valued at $972,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 3,016.7% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 935 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 26.9% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 15,287 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 3,238 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.72% of the company's stock.

Citigroup Trading Up 3.9%

NYSE C opened at $135.01 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $124.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $230.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.12. Citigroup Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.66 and a 12 month high of $135.67.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 9.19%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $30.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 13.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Citigroup's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.74%.

Insider Transactions at Citigroup

In other Citigroup news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.30, for a total transaction of $265,260.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,908.20. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 is reportedly part of a new tokenized deposit system being developed with JPMorgan and other major banks, a move that could help Citi compete with stablecoins and crypto-native firms while opening a new digital-payments growth avenue.
• Positive Sentiment: Citi said its AI document-processing system cut account-opening review time from 60 minutes to 15 minutes, signaling a meaningful productivity gain and a path to lower operating costs.
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup was also mentioned as a possible bank for OpenAI’s upcoming IPO, which could bolster fee income and reinforce Citi’s role in high-profile capital markets deals.
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment is further supported by Citi’s recent strong results, with quarterly EPS and revenue both beating estimates, and by analyst commentary pointing to a constructive technical setup for the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi announced redemptions of $3.15 billion in 2027-due notes. This is a routine balance-sheet action and does not appear to be a major surprise, but it may reflect ongoing capital management discipline.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several headlines focused on Citi’s broader research coverage of other companies and portfolio moves by Citi entities, but these appear to be more about the bank’s market presence than a direct driver of Citigroup’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on C shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $131.00 to $135.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $137.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Citigroup from $140.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Evercore set a $139.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Citigroup from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $137.62.

Citigroup Company 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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