Sanders Capital LLC Has $2.22 Billion Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,054,959 shares of the health services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 154,420 shares during the period. The Cigna Group comprises about 3.3% of Sanders Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Sanders Capital LLC owned about 2.90% of The Cigna Group worth $2,224,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CI. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of The Cigna Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $444,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 24.9% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 216 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group boosted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 13,163 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $4,560,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in The Cigna Group by 39.6% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 17,173 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $5,949,000 after purchasing an additional 4,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in The Cigna Group by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 20,330 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $7,003,000 after buying an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CI shares. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on The Cigna Group from $370.00 to $341.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $348.00 price objective (down previously from $394.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Cigna Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.00.

The Cigna Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CI opened at $329.52 on Friday. The Cigna Group has a 12-month low of $262.03 and a 12-month high of $370.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $312.04 and a 200-day moving average of $311.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $90.18 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.51.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.84 by ($1.20). The Cigna Group had a net margin of 1.39% and a return on equity of 18.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. This is a positive change from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Cigna Group news, Director Elder Granger sold 2,376 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.35, for a total transaction of $737,391.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,471 shares in the company, valued at $1,697,924.85. This trade represents a 30.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total value of $8,173,499.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,767 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold 43,751 shares of company stock worth $13,603,991 in the last quarter. 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.