Legal & General Group Plc Grows Position in Cigna Group $CI

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Cigna Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to about 2.04 million shares valued at roughly $560.6 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted positions, and 86.99% of Cigna’s stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Cigna reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $7.79 per share beating estimates and revenue of $68.52 billion topping expectations; the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.56 per share.

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Cigna Group (NYSE:CI - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,036,852 shares of the health services provider's stock after buying an additional 26,175 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.76% of Cigna Group worth $560,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CI. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Cigna Group by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,736 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Cigna Group by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cigna Group by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 22,225 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $7,347,000 after buying an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Cigna Group by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 148,840 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $49,204,000 after buying an additional 21,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cigna Group in the 2nd quarter worth $163,000. 86.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Cigna Group from $333.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of Cigna Group from $270.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Cigna Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $303.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Cigna Group from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Cigna Group from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $339.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David Cordani sold 201,878 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.82, for a total value of $59,113,915.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 34,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,054,560.34. This trade represents a 85.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Everett Neville sold 1,719 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.91, for a total transaction of $496,636.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,119.70. This represents a 23.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 205,904 shares of company stock valued at $60,277,068 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Cigna Group Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of CI opened at $286.06 on Tuesday. Cigna Group has a twelve month low of $239.51 and a twelve month high of $338.89. The company has a market cap of $75.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $277.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $276.37.

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The health services provider reported $7.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.60 by $0.19. Cigna Group had a net margin of 2.26% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The business had revenue of $68.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.74 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Cigna Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 30.350- EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Cigna Group will post 30.39 EPS for the current year.

Cigna Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a $1.56 dividend. This represents a $6.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Cigna Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.45%.

Cigna Group Company Profile

Cigna Group NYSE: CI is a global health services company that offers a broad portfolio of healthcare products and insurance solutions for individuals, employers, and governments. Its core businesses include medical and behavioral health plans, dental and vision coverage, pharmacy benefit management, and supplemental health products. Cigna serves a mix of commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid customers and provides workplace benefits such as group health plans and disability and life benefits for employers.

In addition to traditional insurance products, Cigna operates health services and care-delivery platforms designed to manage costs and improve outcomes.

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