Foundry Partners LLC Has $13.02 Million Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Foundry Partners LLC cut its position in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 47,154 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 425 shares during the quarter. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $13,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Cigna Group in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CI shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on 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. Royal Bank of Canada set a $355.00 target price on The Cigna Group in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $373.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total value of $8,173,499.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,767 shares in the company, valued at $39,367,568.04. This trade represents a 17.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Elder Granger sold 2,376 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.35, for a total value of $737,391.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,697,924.85. This represents a 30.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 43,751 shares of company stock valued at $13,603,991. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

Shares of CI stock opened at $338.76 on Friday. The Cigna Group has a 1 year low of $262.03 and a 1 year high of $370.83. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $308.16 and its 200-day moving average is $313.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.50.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the company posted $6.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. 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 presently 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.