Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 66,201 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 529,148 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,201 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $146,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CI. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in The Cigna Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in The Cigna Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CI. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $403.00 to $379.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on 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. Barclays decreased their target price on The Cigna Group from $420.00 to $339.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $348.00 target price (down from $394.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $373.25.

Insider Activity

In other The Cigna Group news, insider Noelle K. Eder sold 9,944 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,289,920. The trade was a 42.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 17.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,751 shares of company stock worth $13,603,991 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

NYSE CI opened at $316.78 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $300.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $314.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. The Cigna Group has a 52 week low of $262.03 and a 52 week high of $370.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.79 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This is an increase from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio is 49.35%.

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.