Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Sells 11,770 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 47.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,932 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 11,770 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $3,571,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Adero Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $403.00 to $379.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $420.00 to $339.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $348.00 price objective (down from $394.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $372.31.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

Shares of CI opened at $315.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $87.77 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $291.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $318.03. The Cigna Group has a 1-year low of $262.03 and a 1-year high of $370.83.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.84 by ($1.20). The Cigna Group had a net margin of 1.39% and a return on equity of 18.61%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 EPS for the current year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is an increase from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is presently 49.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total transaction of $8,173,499.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,367,568.04. The trade was a 17.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 4,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total transaction of $1,511,020.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,065,198.52. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% 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.