Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC raised its position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,156 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in The Cigna Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,367,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 323,911 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $112,216,000 after buying an additional 11,228 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 75,837 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $20,942,000 after buying an additional 858 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 56,933 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $15,721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its stake in The Cigna Group by 28.3% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 15,713 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $5,444,000 after acquiring an additional 3,466 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $355.00 price target on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group cut 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, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $372.31.

Insider Activity at The Cigna Group

In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,367,568.04. This represents a 17.19 % decrease in their position. 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.00, for a total value of $3,182,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,406 shares in the company, valued at $4,289,920. This represents a 42.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,375 shares of company stock worth $12,866,600. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Stock Performance

Shares of The Cigna Group stock opened at $311.61 on Friday. The Cigna Group has a 1 year low of $262.03 and a 1 year high of $370.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $296.14 and its 200 day moving average is $317.06. The stock has a market cap of $85.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. 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 (NYSE:CI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the prior year, the company posted $6.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. This is an increase from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.35%.

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.