Yousif Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 54,423 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 2,015 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $16,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CI. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 104.5% during the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 90 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 112.2% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 104 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 73.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 142 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $355.00 to $370.00 in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $393.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $372.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $362.14.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

Shares of CI stock traded down $0.06 on Wednesday, hitting $352.59. 601,696 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,581,153. The firm has a market cap of $103.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.56. The Cigna Group has a 52 week low of $240.50 and a 52 week high of $365.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $349.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $316.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $51.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.91 billion. The Cigna Group had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 13.59%. The Cigna Group’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Cigna Group will post 28.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. This is a boost from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.23. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.20%.

Insider Activity at The Cigna Group

In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total value 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total value 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 1,017 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.26, for a total transaction of $340,959.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,275,786.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 114,144 shares of company stock valued at $39,296,330. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.