Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC Reduces Stock Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC lowered its position in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI - Free Report) by 49.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,920 shares of the health services provider's stock after selling 3,800 shares during the quarter. Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC's holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $1,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CI. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group during the first quarter worth $212,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in The Cigna Group in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in The Cigna Group by 52.6% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 18,975 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $4,547,000 after purchasing an additional 6,538 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in The Cigna Group by 6.5% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,212 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in The Cigna Group by 36.5% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CI. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded The Cigna Group from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $327.00 to $354.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised The Cigna Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on The Cigna Group from $334.00 to $348.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded The Cigna Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $335.00 to $341.00 in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on The Cigna Group from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $361.29.

The Cigna Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of CI stock traded up $2.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $362.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 991,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,390,451. The Cigna Group has a 52-week low of $240.50 and a 52-week high of $365.71. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $341.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $311.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $105.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.56.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $51.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $48.91 billion. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 13.59% and a net margin of 2.64%. The company's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.96 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Cigna Group will post 28.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This is a boost from The Cigna Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.23. The Cigna Group's dividend payout ratio is 32.20%.

Insider Activity at The Cigna Group

In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 38,065 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.22, for a total transaction of $12,760,149.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 329,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $110,394,985.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David Cordani sold 38,065 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.22, for a total value of $12,760,149.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 329,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $110,394,985.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 6,083 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $2,068,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,180,660. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,144 shares of company stock worth $39,296,330. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About The Cigna Group

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.