Westpac Banking Corp Sells 9,231 Shares of Citigroup Inc. $C

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp trimmed its Citigroup stake by 4.4% in Q4, selling 9,231 shares and ending with 201,447 shares valued at about $23.5 million. Citigroup remains Westpac’s 9th-largest position and makes up roughly 1.5% of its portfolio.
• Citigroup has seen generally positive analyst and investor sentiment, with several firms raising price targets and the consensus rating sitting at “Moderate Buy.” The average analyst target price is $137.62, above the stock’s recent trading level.
• The bank reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and recently paid a $0.60 quarterly dividend while authorizing a $30 billion share repurchase plan. Citigroup stock was also up 1.7% in the latest session and has traded near its 52-week high.

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - Free Report) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 201,447 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,231 shares during the quarter. Citigroup accounts for about 1.5% of Westpac Banking Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Citigroup were worth $23,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of C. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth about $2,800,944,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 163,239,926 shares of the company's stock worth $19,048,467,000 after buying an additional 4,938,923 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 6.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 47,262,626 shares of the company's stock worth $4,797,292,000 after buying an additional 2,871,074 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 6,172.0% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,904,795 shares of the company's stock worth $294,838,000 after buying an additional 2,858,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Citigroup during the fourth quarter worth about $298,082,000. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Citigroup News

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup’s tokenization research is drawing attention, with the bank projecting the tokenized securities market could reach $5.5 trillion by 2030, reinforcing its position as an early leader in a fast-growing financial technology theme. Citigroup Forecasts Tokenized Securities Market Will Hit $5.5 Trillion
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup has also been cited as outperforming the broader market and the Dow, reflecting continued investor confidence in the bank’s earnings power and relative stock performance. Citigroup (C) Outperforms Broader Market: What You Need to Know
• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer described Citigroup as “fantastic,” adding another bullish media mention that can help sentiment around the stock. Jim Cramer Believes Citigroup (C) Is Fantastic
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles reference Citi’s market views on other sectors, including tech positioning risk and copper bullishness, but these are more informative about the bank’s research desk than directly material for Citigroup’s near-term earnings or stock price. Citi’s Chew Sees US Tech Stocks at Risk From Bullish Positioning

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

C has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Citigroup from $131.00 to $135.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Citigroup in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Citigroup from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Citigroup presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.62.

Citigroup Stock Up 1.7%

C stock opened at $131.32 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $223.97 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.12. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.44 and a 1-year high of $135.29. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $123.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.99.

Citigroup (NYSE:C - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $24.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.96 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 9.35%.The firm's revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.68 EPS for the current year.

Citigroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Citigroup's payout ratio is 29.74%.

Citigroup announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $30.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 13.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related news, insider Edward Skyler sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.41, for a total value of $3,285,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 182,022 shares in the company, valued at $23,919,511.02. The trade was 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 business's 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 owned 12,194 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,527,908.20. This trade represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

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.

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