Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Buys 2,820 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 46,052 shares of the health services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,820 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $12,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group in the 4th quarter worth about $867,785,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter worth about $724,517,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $313,911,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,021,582 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,110,520,000 after acquiring an additional 737,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,556,278 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $3,191,151,000 after acquiring an additional 501,320 shares in the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on CI shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on The Cigna Group from $403.00 to $379.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of 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. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (down previously from $415.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on The Cigna Group from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on The Cigna Group from $375.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $373.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Cigna Group news, Director Elder Granger sold 2,376 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.35, for a total value of $737,391.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,697,924.85. This trade represents a 30.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 127,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,367,568.04. This represents a 17.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,751 shares of company stock worth $13,603,991 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The Cigna Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CI opened at $335.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $319.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $310.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The Cigna Group has a fifty-two week low of $262.03 and a fifty-two week high of $370.83.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its earnings results 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 quarter last year, the business earned $6.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd will be paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is 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.