BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Purchases 6,127 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI - Free Report) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,530 shares of the health services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,127 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $14,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in The Cigna Group by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,556,278 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $3,191,151,000 after purchasing an additional 501,320 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 8,054,959 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $2,224,296,000 after buying an additional 154,420 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,957,180 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $1,640,878,000 after buying an additional 101,737 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,021,582 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $1,110,520,000 after buying an additional 737,099 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $867,785,000. Institutional investors own 86.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CI. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $385.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on The Cigna Group from $379.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays increased their target price on The Cigna Group from $339.00 to $382.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of The Cigna Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $323.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $379.33.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

CI stock opened at $317.16 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $325.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $310.07. The Cigna Group has a 1 year low of $262.03 and a 1 year high of $370.83. The stock has a market cap of $84.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

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

The Cigna Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The Cigna Group's payout ratio is currently 33.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total value of $1,511,020.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,065,198.52. This represents a 14.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total transaction of $8,173,499.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,367,568.04. The trade was a 17.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,751 shares of company stock valued at $13,603,991 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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