The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 45,891 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 729,252 shares of the health services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,891 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.26% of The Cigna Group worth $252,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CI. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,584 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,185,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 1.4% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,206 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. IFG Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 4.6% in the third quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 692 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on The Cigna Group from $405.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $402.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on The Cigna Group from $384.00 to $377.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on The Cigna Group from $435.00 to $438.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Cigna Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $394.64.

The Cigna Group Stock Performance

Shares of CI stock opened at $332.73 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The Cigna Group has a 52 week low of $253.95 and a 52 week high of $370.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $334.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $338.63.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The health services provider reported $7.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.22 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $63.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.58 billion. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 18.42% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Cigna Group will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is 52.83%.

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.