1,527 Shares in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) Bought by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,527 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in The Cigna Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in The Cigna Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Cigna Group in the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at The Cigna Group

In other news, Director Elder Granger sold 2,376 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.35, for a total value of $737,391.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,697,924.85. The trade was a 30.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Noelle K. Eder sold 9,944 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.00, for a total value of $3,182,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,920. This represents a 42.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 43,751 shares of company stock valued at $13,603,991. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CI. Stephens cut their target price on The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on The Cigna Group from $370.00 to $341.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on The Cigna Group from $403.00 to $379.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $355.00 price target on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Cigna Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $373.25.

The Cigna Group Stock Down 1.4 %

CI opened at $316.78 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $300.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $315.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.88, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. The Cigna Group has a fifty-two week low of $262.03 and a fifty-two week high of $370.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.66.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.84 by ($1.20). The Cigna Group had a net margin of 1.39% and a return on equity of 18.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a positive change from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.35%.

The Cigna Group 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.