Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI - Free Report) by 1,039.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 590,063 shares of the health services provider's stock after buying an additional 538,274 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.20% of The Cigna Group worth $176,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CI. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in The Cigna Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $212,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in The Cigna Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 52.6% in the 1st 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 holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 6.5% in the 1st 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 holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 36.5% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Hoeltzel Mary T. Agoglia sold 4,867 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.48, for a total value of $1,608,446.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,102 shares in the company, valued at $694,668.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Hoeltzel Mary T. Agoglia sold 4,867 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.48, for a total value of $1,608,446.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,102 shares in the company, valued at $694,668.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 1,017 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.26, for a total transaction of $340,959.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,275,786.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 114,144 shares of company stock worth $39,296,330. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $327.00 to $354.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $392.00 price objective (up previously from $382.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $370.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $362.14.

The Cigna Group Stock Performance

NYSE CI traded down $4.76 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $353.08. 1,063,974 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,611,686. The business's 50 day moving average is $345.06 and its 200-day moving average is $312.72. The Cigna Group has a 1 year low of $240.50 and a 1 year high of $365.71. The company has a market capitalization of $103.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.56. 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 Cigna Group (NYSE:CI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.25. The Cigna Group had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 13.59%. The firm had revenue of $51.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.96 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 28.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. 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. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The Cigna Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.20%.

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.