Raymond James & Associates Boosts Stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 583,606 shares of the health services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,708 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $211,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in The Cigna Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,967,363 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $4,567,783,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939,554 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,833,753 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $3,385,282,000 after purchasing an additional 345,605 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 7,727,729 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $2,314,068,000 after purchasing an additional 97,277 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in The Cigna Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,973,106 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,422,657,000 after buying an additional 225,115 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,006,348,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CI. StockNews.com raised shares of The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised The Cigna Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $330.00 to $372.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Mizuho increased their price objective on The Cigna Group from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on The Cigna Group in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $393.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Cigna Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Hoeltzel Mary T. Agoglia sold 4,867 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.48, for a total value of $1,608,446.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,102 shares in the company, valued at $694,668.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 1,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 45,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,275,786.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Hoeltzel Mary T. Agoglia sold 4,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.48, for a total value of $1,608,446.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,102 shares in the company, valued at $694,668.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 114,144 shares of company stock worth $39,296,330. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CI traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $354.47. 830,527 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,260,787. The Cigna Group has a 1 year low of $240.50 and a 1 year high of $365.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $349.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $317.80. The firm has a market cap of $103.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.56.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $51.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.91 billion. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 13.59% and a net margin of 2.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 28.36 EPS for the current year.

The Cigna Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.20%.

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.