Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Buys 88 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,478 shares of the health services provider’s stock after buying an additional 88 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of The Cigna Group during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 86.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at The Cigna Group

In other The Cigna Group news, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total transaction of $1,511,020.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,065,198.52. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total transaction of $8,173,499.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,367,568.04. This trade represents a 17.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on CI. Sanford C. Bernstein cut The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $348.00 target price (down from $394.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.31.

The Cigna Group Stock Performance

CI stock opened at $309.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.18 billion, a PE ratio of 25.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The Cigna Group has a 12-month low of $262.03 and a 12-month 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $291.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $318.05.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.84 by ($1.20). The Cigna Group had a net margin of 1.39% and a return on equity of 18.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio is 49.35%.

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.