GWN Securities Inc. Buys New Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

GWN Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 794 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CI. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 26.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 570,283 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $197,569,000 after purchasing an additional 119,681 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 23.6% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 661 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 40.1% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,480 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in The Cigna Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $324,000. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

The Cigna Group Trading Up 1.4 %

CI stock opened at $317.23 on Tuesday. 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 has a twelve month low of $262.03 and a twelve month high of $370.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $315.92.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 earnings per share 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 firm posted $6.79 EPS. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This is a boost from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.35%.

Insider Transactions at The Cigna Group

In other news, Director Elder Granger sold 2,376 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.35, for a total value of $737,391.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,697,924.85. This represents a 30.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Noelle K. Eder sold 9,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 owns 13,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,289,920. The trade was a 42.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 43,751 shares of company stock worth $13,603,991. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CI shares. StockNews.com raised shares of The Cigna Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $360.00 target price (down previously from $415.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Cigna Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.31.

The Cigna Group 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.