Sanders Morris Harris LLC Makes New Investment in Cigna Group $CI

Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,493 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Evercore Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Cigna Group by 2.8% in the first quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,301 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in Cigna Group by 2.6% in the second quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,483 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Cigna Group by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 919 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Cigna Group by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 203 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maripau Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cigna Group by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Maripau Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CI. Piper Sandler set a $370.00 price objective on Cigna Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $336.00 to $307.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Cigna Group from $304.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial downgraded Cigna Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cigna Group in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $338.24.

Cigna Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CI traded up $7.04 on Wednesday, reaching $289.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,396,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,671,362. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $277.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.41. Cigna Group has a 52-week low of $239.51 and a 52-week high of $311.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.98, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.29.

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The health services provider reported $7.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.18. Cigna Group had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The business had revenue of $71.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Cigna Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 30.450- EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cigna Group will post 30.50 EPS for the current year.

Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were given a dividend of $1.56 per share. This represents a $6.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cigna Group news, insider Everett Neville sold 617 shares of Cigna Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.05, for a total value of $175,258.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,435,304.65. This trade represents a 10.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Nicole Jones sold 2,677 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.61, for a total value of $748,515.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,236,306.80. The trade was a 9.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 22,730 shares of company stock valued at $6,293,359 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cigna Group Profile

The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI) is a global health company that provides health care and related services to individuals, employers, government organizations and health plans. Its operations are primarily organized through Cigna Healthcare and Evernorth Health Services, which together address health coverage, pharmacy services, care delivery and benefit management.

Cigna Healthcare offers medical, dental, behavioral health, disability and other benefits, with a focus on employer-sponsored and individual health plans in the United States as well as international health services.