Skopos Labs Inc. Acquires New Stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Skopos Labs Inc. bought a new position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,076 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $622,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Seizert Capital Partners LLC grew its position in The Cigna Group by 195.8% during the fourth quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 32,150 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $9,627,000 after buying an additional 21,280 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. boosted its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 61.4% in the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 9,307 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $2,772,000 after purchasing an additional 3,539 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group during the 4th quarter valued at $4,377,000. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Cigna Group during the 4th quarter valued at $2,811,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 293,438 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $87,870,000 after buying an additional 66,891 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CI shares. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $384.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded The Cigna Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $355.00 to $370.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $392.00 price target (up previously from $382.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Monday, March 4th. 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. Finally, Mizuho increased 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. Two investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $366.14.

The Cigna Group Stock Performance

CI stock traded down $5.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $332.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,311,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,587,786. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $351.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $322.97. The stock has a market cap of $94.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.57. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.17 by $0.30. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business had revenue of $57.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Cigna Group will post 28.47 EPS for the current year.

The Cigna Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders 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 1.68%. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.98%.

Insider Transactions at The Cigna Group

In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 2,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.73, for a total value of $833,900.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 340,438 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,699,629.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Noelle K. Eder sold 10,700 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.47, for a total transaction of $3,728,629.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,514,189.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Cordani sold 2,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.73, for a total transaction of $833,900.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 340,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,699,629.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,366 shares of company stock valued at $25,440,835 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.