They align with suggestions that one of its activist investors, Elliott Management Corp., made to Citrix on June 11 in an open letter. But hedge fund Elliott has been among the most vocal in calling for change following what it describes as years of underperformance.
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Elliott, that associated finances own about oyr best seven.5% of Citrix’s supply, has arranged to typical check, election and also other specifications for a minimum per year, Citrix said. On Tuesday, Citrix announced that Elliott senior portfolio manager Jesse Cohn has been appointed to a seat on the company’s board, replacing outgoing board member Asiff Hirji, effective immediately.
The board has also agreed to Elliott’s demands that it consider the sale or spinoff of the Citrix “Go To” business, which includes Go To Meeting, Go to My PC and Go to Webinar, among other related product lines.
Citrix Systems, Inc.is expected to report their next quarterly earnings on or around 2015-07-28 for the period ending 2015-06-30.
The operations committee will be comprised of four directors, including Cohn. “Under his 20 years of leadership, Citrix has transformed to a $3b global technology leader”, said Thomas Bogan, lead independent director for Citrix. The firm now has a “sector perform” rating on the cloud computing company’s stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.
Citrix said, with the assistance of its independent advisors, it has initiated a review of strategic alternatives for the company’s GoTo family of products.
After the market closed, Citrix also reported financial results for the second quarter, including revenue of $797 million, up 2 percent from the $782 million reported in the second quarter a year ago. Net income of Citrix for the second quarter of fiscal year 2015 grew to $103 million from $53 million. Previously, it was anticipating earnings in between $3.55 per share and $3.60 per share. “Through the additional actions we are announcing today, we’re taking steps to ensure that we are focusing all of our energy on our core secure app delivery offerings and setting the company up for even better execution, greater efficiency and profitable growth”. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Citrix Systems from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. With the volume soaring to 1,587,406 shares, the last trade was called at $68.61.
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The company also announced that current CEO Mark Templeton has informed the board of directors of his plans to retire, although he will continue to serve as CEO until a successor has been appointed. Citrix has retained the services of executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles to help look for candidates. Citrix, founded in 1989, now has about 8,000 employees and has offices around the world. The speedy settlement reflects a shared view on most of Tuesday’s announcements, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private.
