PDS Planning Inc Reduces Holdings in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

PDS Planning Inc cut its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,128 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 294 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CI. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 967,477 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $289,711,000 after purchasing an additional 69,084 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 4,341 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 83.2% in the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,417 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group in the 4th quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 127.3% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 566,233 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $169,558,000 after acquiring an additional 317,081 shares during the period. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays began coverage on The Cigna Group in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $393.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded The Cigna Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $330.00 to $372.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on The Cigna Group from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $384.00 target price on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Cigna Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $362.14.

The Cigna Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CI traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $353.94. The stock had a trading volume of 283,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,582,443. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $103.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $348.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $316.39. The Cigna Group has a 52-week low of $240.50 and a 52-week high of $365.71.

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

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. This is a positive change from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.23. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total transaction of $11,084,500.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 348,054 shares in the company, valued at $123,618,339.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,618,339.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Hoeltzel Mary T. Agoglia sold 4,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,102 shares in the company, valued at $694,668.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 114,144 shares of company stock worth $39,296,330 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Company Profile

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.