State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Has $29.54 Million Stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury reduced its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 106,983 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 10,779 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $29,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of The Cigna Group during the fourth quarter worth $867,785,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in The Cigna Group during the 4th quarter worth $313,911,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,021,582 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,110,520,000 after acquiring an additional 737,099 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,556,278 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $3,191,151,000 after acquiring an additional 501,320 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,254,050 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $628,579,000 after acquiring an additional 374,865 shares in the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on The Cigna Group from $360.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $420.00 to $339.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Cigna Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $373.56.

The Cigna Group Stock Down 1.7 %

CI opened at $324.65 on Tuesday. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $316.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $310.42. The Cigna Group has a 1-year low of $262.03 and a 1-year high of $370.83. The stock has a market cap of $88.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.51.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 1.39%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total value of $8,173,499.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,367,568.04. The trade was a 17.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Noelle K. Eder sold 9,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,920. This trade represents a 42.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,751 shares of company stock valued at $13,603,991. 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.