Townsquare Capital LLC Raises Stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,082 shares of the health services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $12,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CI. FMR LLC raised its position in The Cigna Group by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,230,397 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $4,929,978,000 after purchasing an additional 279,880 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,054,958 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $3,829,880,000 after buying an additional 130,048 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,922,121 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,012,340,000 after buying an additional 59,011 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,628,807 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $869,078,000 after acquiring an additional 150,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,138,193 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $706,822,000 after acquiring an additional 405,694 shares during the period. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on CI shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $394.00 price target (up from $392.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $435.00 to $438.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of The Cigna Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $402.00 to $422.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Cigna Group has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $394.64.

The Cigna Group Stock Performance

The Cigna Group stock opened at $336.55 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $333.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $338.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $93.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.51. The Cigna Group has a fifty-two week low of $253.95 and a fifty-two week high of $370.83.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The health services provider reported $7.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.22 by $0.29. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 18.42% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company had revenue of $63.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Cigna Group will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.83%.

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.