SPC Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

SPC Financial Inc. reduced its position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 42.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,831 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 2,095 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CI. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 55.1% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 884,406 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $244,220,000 after purchasing an additional 314,123 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,230,397 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $4,929,978,000 after purchasing an additional 279,880 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 34,280.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 238,603 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $65,888,000 after purchasing an additional 237,909 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 497,875 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $137,483,000 after purchasing an additional 202,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $69,972,000. 86.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at The Cigna Group

In other news, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total transaction of $8,173,499.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,367,568.04. This represents a 17.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 4,904 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 $1,511,020.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,065,198.52. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CI. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $403.00 to $379.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $420.00 to $339.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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 research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $390.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.31.

The Cigna Group Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:CI opened at $309.84 on Thursday. The Cigna Group has a 1 year low of $262.03 and a 1 year high of $370.83. The stock has a market cap of $86.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $291.31 and a 200-day moving average of $318.05. 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 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 return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 1.39%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. This is a boost from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.35%.

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.