Ethic Inc. Grows Stock Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Ethic Inc. increased its position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI - Free Report) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,712 shares of the health services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,251 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $13,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CI. Sterling Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Cigna Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,367,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in The Cigna Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 323,911 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $112,216,000 after purchasing an additional 11,228 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in The Cigna Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 75,837 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $20,942,000 after buying an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its position in The Cigna Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 56,933 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $15,721,000 after buying an additional 1,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 550,638 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $152,053,000 after buying an additional 8,077 shares during the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $375.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $370.00 to $341.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $360.00 price target (down previously from $415.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The Cigna Group currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $378.22.

Insider Transactions at The Cigna Group

In other The Cigna Group news, Director Elder Granger sold 2,376 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.35, for a total transaction of $737,391.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,697,924.85. This trade represents a 30.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total value of $8,173,499.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,767 shares in the company, valued at $39,367,568.04. This trade represents a 17.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,751 shares of company stock worth $13,603,991 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

The Cigna Group Stock Up 0.2%

CI stock traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $333.79. The stock had a trading volume of 787,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,696,693. The business has a 50-day moving average of $325.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $310.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $89.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. The Cigna Group has a 52-week low of $262.03 and a 52-week high of $370.83.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.35 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $65.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.39 billion. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 1.39%. The company's revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The Cigna Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.44%.

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.