Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Royal Bank Of Canada

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $337.00 target price on the health services provider’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 24.57% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on CI. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $336.00 to $307.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Cigna Group from $305.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial downgraded Cigna Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Cigna Group from $371.00 to $381.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on Cigna Group from $338.00 to $361.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $338.24.

Cigna Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CI traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $270.52. 230,327 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,677,610. The stock has a market cap of $71.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.29. Cigna Group has a twelve month low of $239.51 and a twelve month high of $312.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $278.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $280.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The health services provider reported $7.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $71.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.14 billion. Cigna Group had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.20 EPS. Cigna Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 30.450- EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Cigna Group will post 30.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 19,436 shares of Cigna Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.27, for a total value of $5,369,583.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,530,015.12. This trade represents a 41.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Everett Neville sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.05, for a total transaction of $175,258.85. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,435,304.65. This trade represents a 10.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 22,730 shares of company stock worth $6,293,359 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Cigna Group by 3.7% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,438,250 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $6,461,457,000 after purchasing an additional 840,098 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cigna Group during the 2nd quarter worth $1,628,918,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Cigna Group by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,182,083 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $848,821,000 after purchasing an additional 256,677 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Cigna Group by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,958,656 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $814,311,000 after purchasing an additional 263,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Cigna Group by 10.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,426,218 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $647,008,000 after purchasing an additional 236,340 shares during the period. 86.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cigna Group Company Profile

The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI) is a global health company that provides health care and related services to individuals, employers, government organizations and health plans. Its operations are primarily organized through Cigna Healthcare and Evernorth Health Services, which together address health coverage, pharmacy services, care delivery and benefit management.

Cigna Healthcare offers medical, dental, behavioral health, disability and other benefits, with a focus on employer-sponsored and individual health plans in the United States as well as international health services.