Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) Stock Bumped Down to Hold by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

CI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cigna Group in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cigna Group in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $337.00 price objective on shares of Cigna Group in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cigna Group in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Cigna Group from $304.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $338.24.

Cigna Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of CI opened at $298.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $78.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.29. Cigna Group has a 12-month low of $239.51 and a 12-month high of $316.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $283.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.53. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The health services provider reported $7.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $71.56 billion for 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%. Cigna Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cigna Group will post 30.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be given a $1.56 dividend. This represents a $6.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 3rd. Cigna Group’s payout ratio is currently 25.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 19,436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.27, for a total transaction of $5,369,583.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,530,015.12. This represents a 41.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Everett Neville sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,435,304.65. The trade was a 10.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,730 shares of company stock valued at $6,293,359. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cigna Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cigna Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cigna Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cigna Group during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Cigna Group during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cigna Group by 161.9% during the first quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 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 services company that provides insurance coverage, health care benefits and related services. Its operations are primarily organized through Cigna Healthcare, which offers medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health and other benefit programs to employers, government organizations and individuals, primarily in the United States.

The company also operates Evernorth Health Services, a health services platform that includes pharmacy benefit management, specialty pharmacy, care management and health-care delivery capabilities.