Ieq Capital LLC Sells 972 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Ieq Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,605 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 972 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $2,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CI. Adero Partners LLC boosted its position in The Cigna Group by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 788 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 3.0% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 1,080 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,770 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,869,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in The Cigna Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 751 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CI. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $348.00 target price (down previously from $394.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $390.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, The Cigna Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $372.31.

The Cigna Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CI stock opened at $299.92 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $286.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $319.54. 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 has a 1-year low of $262.03 and a 1-year high of $370.83. The company has a market cap of $83.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 1.39%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.79 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders 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 represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. This is a boost from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.75%.

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.