Principal Street Partners LLC Reduces Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Principal Street Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 48.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,051 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in The Cigna Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $867,785,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group in the 4th quarter valued at $724,517,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group in the 4th quarter valued at $313,911,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,021,582 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,110,520,000 after acquiring an additional 737,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 278.0% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 816,200 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $225,385,000 after acquiring an additional 600,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CI. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $360.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $370.00 to $341.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $339.00 to $382.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $388.00 to $362.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $379.33.

The Cigna Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CI opened at $324.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $325.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $310.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.75 billion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. The Cigna Group has a fifty-two week low of $262.03 and a fifty-two week high of $370.83.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.35 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $65.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.39 billion. The Cigna Group had a net margin of 1.39% and a return on equity of 18.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 3rd. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Noelle K. Eder sold 9,944 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.00, for a total value of $3,182,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,406 shares in the company, valued at $4,289,920. This represents a 42.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total transaction of $1,511,020.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,065,198.52. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,751 shares of company stock worth $13,603,991. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group 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.