Smith Anglin Financial LLC Buys New Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Smith Anglin Financial LLC bought a new stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 644 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $867,785,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $724,517,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 58,799.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774,626 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $583,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,771,613 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $313,911,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,021,582 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,110,520,000 after purchasing an additional 737,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CI shares. Barclays raised their price target on The Cigna Group from $382.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on The Cigna Group from $388.00 to $362.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on The Cigna Group from $370.00 to $341.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $380.39.

The Cigna Group Stock Performance

NYSE:CI opened at $311.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $83.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.47, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $324.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $309.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The Cigna Group has a 1-year low of $262.03 and a 1-year high of $370.83.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.35 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $65.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.39 billion. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 1.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.47 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is currently 33.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Cigna Group news, Director Elder Granger sold 2,376 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.35, for a total value of $737,391.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,697,924.85. The trade was a 30.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Noelle K. Eder sold 9,944 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,289,920. This represents a 42.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.