Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Lowers Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lowered its holdings in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,025 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 167 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $1,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,793,138 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $9,731,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,017,333 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,341,233 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $5,208,593,000 after purchasing an additional 867,180 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 63.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,547,245 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $510,467,000 after purchasing an additional 600,215 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of The Cigna Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $161,300,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,138,193 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $706,822,000 after purchasing an additional 405,694 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CI shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on The Cigna Group from $402.00 to $422.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on The Cigna Group from $384.00 to $377.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on The Cigna Group from $435.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on The Cigna Group from $393.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Cigna Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $392.29.

The Cigna Group Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE CI opened at $316.70 on Friday. The Cigna Group has a fifty-two week low of $253.95 and a fifty-two week high of $370.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $345.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $341.55. The stock has a market cap of $88.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.50.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The health services provider reported $7.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.22 by $0.29. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 1.70%. The business had revenue of $63.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 28.48 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is presently 44.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William J. Delaney III sold 2,691 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.68, for a total value of $922,151.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,539 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,264.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.