Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Grows Stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its holdings in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 24.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,018 shares of the health services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,230,397 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $4,929,978,000 after purchasing an additional 279,880 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in The Cigna Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,855,443 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $2,021,563,000 after acquiring an additional 22,408 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,021,582 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,110,520,000 after acquiring an additional 737,099 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,254,050 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $628,579,000 after acquiring an additional 374,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,168,959 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $751,414,000 after acquiring an additional 44,810 shares during the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CI. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $390.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stephens reduced their price objective on The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on The Cigna Group from $403.00 to $379.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $373.25.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

Shares of CI stock opened at $316.64 on Wednesday. The Cigna Group has a twelve month low of $262.03 and a twelve month high of $370.83. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $314.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total value of $8,173,499.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,767 shares in the company, valued at $39,367,568.04. The trade was a 17.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Noelle K. Eder sold 9,944 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.00, for a total transaction of $3,182,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,920. The trade was a 42.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,751 shares of company stock valued at $13,603,991 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

About The Cigna Group

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.