Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. Raises Stock Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 967 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C.’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 104.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 90 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in The Cigna Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in The Cigna Group in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in The Cigna Group by 112.2% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 104 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its stake in The Cigna Group by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 142 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $384.00 target price on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $355.00 to $370.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $362.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 38,065 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.22, for a total transaction of $12,760,149.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 329,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,394,985.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 38,065 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.22, for a total transaction of $12,760,149.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 329,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,394,985.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 1,017 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.26, for a total transaction of $340,959.42. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,275,786.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 114,144 shares of company stock worth $39,296,330. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

Shares of The Cigna Group stock traded down $0.48 on Tuesday, hitting $352.70. 1,188,485 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,594,390. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Cigna Group has a 52 week low of $240.50 and a 52 week high of $365.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $349.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $316.84.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $51.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.91 billion. The Cigna Group had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 13.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.96 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Cigna Group will post 28.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This is a boost from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.23. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is currently 32.20%.

About The Cigna Group

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.