Choate Investment Advisors Buys 99 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Choate Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,923 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $1,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Adero Partners LLC lifted its position in The Cigna Group by 4.5% during the third quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 788 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in The Cigna Group by 3.0% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in The Cigna Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,883 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in The Cigna Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,670 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co lifted its position in The Cigna Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 1,080 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CI shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on The Cigna Group from $403.00 to $379.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded The Cigna Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on The Cigna Group from $390.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Cigna Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total transaction of $8,173,499.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,367,568.04. This represents a 17.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 4,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total value of $1,511,020.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,065,198.52. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,375 shares of company stock valued at $12,866,600 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

NYSE:CI opened at $313.35 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $85.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. The Cigna Group has a 12 month low of $262.03 and a 12 month high of $370.83. The business’s 50-day moving average is $296.79 and its 200 day moving average is $316.23.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.84 by ($1.20). The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 1.39%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a boost from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is presently 49.35%.

The Cigna Group 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.