National Pension Service Buys 10,855 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 538,358 shares of the health services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,855 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $161,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. NBT Bank N A NY raised its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,315 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in The Cigna Group in the third quarter worth approximately $3,384,000. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in The Cigna Group during the third quarter worth $207,000. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in The Cigna Group by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,305 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Detalus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Cigna Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $200,000. Institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total transaction of $11,084,500.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 348,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,618,339.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total transaction of $11,084,500.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 348,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,618,339.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 1,017 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.26, for a total transaction of $340,959.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,275,786.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,277 shares of company stock valued at $37,687,884 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The Cigna Group Stock Performance

Shares of The Cigna Group stock traded up $0.61 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $347.31. 1,355,013 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,587,449. The Cigna Group has a 52-week low of $240.50 and a 52-week high of $365.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.51, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $350.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $320.21.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.17 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $57.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.59 billion. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 1.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.41 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 28.45 EPS for the current year.

The Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is 45.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 price objective (up previously from $382.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of The Cigna Group from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $327.00 to $354.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on The Cigna Group from $334.00 to $348.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $366.14.

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.