Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 392,978 Shares of Cigna Group $CI

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management increased its Cigna stake by 41.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 392,978 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 1,348,713 shares worth about $371.2 million.
• Wall Street remains bullish on Cigna, with analysts assigning an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $338.80. Several firms recently lifted their targets, including Truist, RBC, and Cantor Fitzgerald.
• Cigna posted solid quarterly results, beating estimates with EPS of $7.79 and revenue of $68.52 billion, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $1.56 per share payable June 18.

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Cigna Group (NYSE:CI - Free Report) by 41.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,348,713 shares of the health services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 392,978 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Cigna Group worth $371,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Cigna Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,173,577 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $7,203,754,000 after purchasing an additional 414,834 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Cigna Group by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,805,083 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $3,249,113,000 after purchasing an additional 903,334 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in Cigna Group by 4.0% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 9,305,225 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $2,682,231,000 after purchasing an additional 354,615 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Cigna Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 7,828,168 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $2,256,469,000 after buying an additional 35,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cigna Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,051,370 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $1,658,055,000 after buying an additional 48,474 shares during the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Cigna Group from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Cigna Group from $333.00 to $337.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $337.00 price objective on Cigna Group in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Cigna Group from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cigna Group in a research report on Monday, June 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $338.80.

Cigna Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CI opened at $297.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $78.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $282.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $278.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Cigna Group has a 1-year low of $239.51 and a 1-year high of $338.89.

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

Cigna Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $1.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Cigna Group's payout ratio is currently 26.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 201,878 shares of Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.82, for a total value of $59,113,915.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 34,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,054,560.34. The trade was a 85.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cigna Group 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.