The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) Shares Gap Up to $348.90

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $348.90, but opened at $356.13. The Cigna Group shares last traded at $351.17, with a volume of 227,419 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on CI. Barclays began coverage on The Cigna Group in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $393.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report 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. Mizuho lifted their price objective on The Cigna Group from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on The Cigna Group from $334.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Cigna Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $362.14.

The Cigna Group Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $347.73 and a 200 day moving average of $314.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $101.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.56.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last issued 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 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 the consensus estimate of $48.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Cigna Group will post 28.36 EPS for the current year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.23. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is presently 32.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Cigna Group

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 stock was sold at an average price of $335.22, for a total value of $12,760,149.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 329,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,394,985.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO David Cordani sold 38,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.22, for a total transaction of $12,760,149.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 329,321 shares in the company, valued at $110,394,985.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Hoeltzel Mary T. Agoglia sold 4,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.48, for a total value of $1,608,446.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,668.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 114,144 shares of company stock worth $39,296,330. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Cigna Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 13.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,967,363 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $4,567,783,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939,554 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 154,255.6% during 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 period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 3.0% during 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 period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 7,727,729 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $2,314,068,000 after purchasing an additional 97,277 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 4.7% during 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 period. Institutional investors own 86.99% 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.