Castleark Management LLC Acquires 39,520 Shares of Citigroup Inc. $C

Castleark Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 50.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 117,464 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 39,520 shares during the quarter. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $13,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. purchased a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in Citigroup by 92.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 319 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. High Note Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Citigroup by 107.7% during the 4th quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 270 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Citigroup

Here are the key news stories impacting Citigroup this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup launched tokenized Digital Depositary Receipts, creating a new blockchain-based way for clients to gain exposure to private companies and for issuers to tap liquidity, reinforcing Citi’s push into next-generation capital markets. Citigroup Is Rolling Out Tokenized Shares of Private Companies
• Positive Sentiment: Related coverage said Citi is expanding access to private markets with tokenized private-share trading, which could open a new fee-generating business line and strengthen its innovation story with large clients. Citigroup Expands Access to Private Markets With Tokenized Depositary Receipts
• Positive Sentiment: Trump praised Citigroup and CEO Jane Fraser as a top M&A adviser, which helped fuel momentum and reinforced confidence in Citi’s investment banking comeback. Citigroup shares outperform down market after Trump endorsement
• Positive Sentiment: Citi also continued building out its consumer and retail investment banking franchise with a new managing director hire, suggesting management is still investing in growth areas. Citi hires Ryan Beaupré as MD in consumer and retail investment banking push
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi completed the sale of its Polish consumer banking business, continuing its multi-year retreat from underperforming overseas markets. This supports simplification, but it also shows ongoing shrinkage in some international operations. Citi’s overseas retreat advances with sale of Polish business
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that regulators are probing banks’ use of AI could raise compliance scrutiny for the sector, but there was no Citi-specific issue mentioned. Bank Regulators Probe Industry Use of AI

Insider Buying and Selling at Citigroup

In related news, Director John Cunningham Dugan sold 2,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 12,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,908.20. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the insider owned 182,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,919,511.02. This trade represents a 12.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Citigroup Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of C stock opened at $139.68 on Friday. Citigroup Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.11 and a 1-year high of $141.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $127.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.06. 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 company has a market cap of $238.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.12.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) 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. 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 previous year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $30.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 13.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 29.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on C shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Citigroup from $146.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $139.00 price objective on shares of Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Truist Financial set a $147.00 price target on Citigroup in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore set a $139.00 price target on Citigroup in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.62.

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.