Eagle Strategies LLC Boosts Stake in Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Eagle Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 20.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,173 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Eagle Strategies LLC’s holdings in Cigna Group were worth $386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Cigna Group by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 764,900 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $211,219,000 after acquiring an additional 188,235 shares during the period. Humankind Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cigna Group by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 5,294 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cigna Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $123,000. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its holdings in shares of Cigna Group by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 17,366 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $4,796,000 after acquiring an additional 1,653 shares during the period. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Cigna Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $332,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CI. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Cigna Group from $388.00 to $362.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Cigna Group from $348.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $371.00 price target on shares of Cigna Group in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $385.00 price target (up previously from $382.00) on shares of Cigna Group in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cigna Group has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $380.39.

Cigna Group Stock Performance

CI stock opened at $317.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.44. Cigna Group has a 12-month low of $262.03 and a 12-month high of $370.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $321.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $307.52.

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.35 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $65.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.39 billion. Cigna Group had a return on equity of 18.63% and a net margin of 1.97%. The company’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cigna Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 3rd. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Cigna Group’s payout ratio is 33.44%.

About 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.