Altfest L J & Co. Inc. Sells 783 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lessened its position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 31.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,674 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 783 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc.’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CI. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 24.3% in the second quarter. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC now owns 112,541 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $31,579,000 after acquiring an additional 22,014 shares in the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter worth $2,244,000. Dfpg Investments LLC boosted its stake in The Cigna Group by 92.0% in the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 3,430 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 444,817 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $127,249,000 after purchasing an additional 6,365 shares during the period. Finally, Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in The Cigna Group by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 132,461 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $37,893,000 after acquiring an additional 17,925 shares in the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CI. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded The Cigna Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $335.00 to $341.00 in a report on Monday, December 11th. Mizuho upped their price objective on The Cigna Group from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of The Cigna Group from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $327.00 to $354.00 in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $361.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Cigna Group

In other news, SVP Hoeltzel Mary T. Agoglia sold 4,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.48, for a total transaction of $1,608,446.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,668.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Hoeltzel Mary T. Agoglia sold 4,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.48, for a total transaction of $1,608,446.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,668.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total value of $11,084,500.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 348,054 shares in the company, valued at $123,618,339.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 114,144 shares of company stock worth $39,296,330 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:CI traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $363.99. 481,269 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,647,126. The Cigna Group has a one year low of $240.50 and a one year high of $365.71. The company has a market cap of $106.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $332.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $307.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.25. The Cigna Group had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 13.59%. The business had revenue of $51.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.96 EPS. The Cigna Group’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Cigna Group will post 28.36 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is presently 32.20%.

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.