Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Raises Stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 95,487 shares of the health services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,214 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $28,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CI. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new position in The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $263,000. Searle & CO. purchased a new stake in The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,490 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 9,707 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $2,907,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at The Cigna Group

In related news, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 1,017 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.26, for a total transaction of $340,959.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,275,786.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total value of $11,084,500.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 348,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $123,618,339.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 1,017 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.26, for a total transaction of $340,959.42. Following the sale, the insider now owns 45,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,275,786.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 114,144 shares of company stock valued at $39,296,330. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on CI shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on The Cigna Group from $384.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on The Cigna Group from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on The Cigna Group from $334.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Cigna Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $366.14.

The Cigna Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of The Cigna Group stock opened at $341.50 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $350.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $319.71. The stock has a market cap of $99.84 billion, a PE ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The Cigna Group has a 12-month low of $240.50 and a 12-month high of $365.71.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.17 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $57.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.59 billion. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 1.76%. The Cigna Group’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.41 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Cigna Group will post 28.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.98%.

About The Cigna Group

The Cigna Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and related products and services in the United States. Its Evernorth Health Services segment provides a range of coordinated and point solution health services, including pharmacy benefits, home delivery pharmacy, specialty pharmacy, distribution, and care delivery and management solutions to health plans, employers, government organizations, and health care providers.