Lipe & Dalton Sells 49 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Lipe & Dalton decreased its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,060 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 49 shares during the period. Lipe & Dalton’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $1,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CI. FMR LLC raised its stake in The Cigna Group by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,967,363 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $4,567,783,000 after buying an additional 1,939,554 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 154,255.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,954,841 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $3,961,117,000 after purchasing an additional 11,947,096 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 3.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,833,753 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $3,385,282,000 after purchasing an additional 345,605 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,973,106 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,422,657,000 after purchasing an additional 225,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 5.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,244,157 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $928,056,000 after purchasing an additional 181,385 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CI. StockNews.com raised The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised The Cigna Group from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $327.00 to $354.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on The Cigna Group from $334.00 to $348.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on The Cigna Group from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.14.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

CI stock traded down $2.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $346.85. 1,786,191 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,608,261. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $347.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $314.14. The Cigna Group has a 12 month low of $240.50 and a 12 month high of $365.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.56.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.25. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 13.59% and a net margin of 2.64%. The firm had revenue of $51.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Cigna Group will post 28.36 EPS for the current year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This is a positive change from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.23. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is 32.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total value of $11,084,500.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 348,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,618,339.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other The Cigna Group news, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 6,083 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $2,068,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 44,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,180,660. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total value of $11,084,500.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 348,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,618,339.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 114,144 shares of company stock valued at $39,296,330. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.