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

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 529,148 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,201 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of The Cigna Group worth $146,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of The Cigna Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in The Cigna Group in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Cigna Group during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on The Cigna Group from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price target (down from $415.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on The Cigna Group from $390.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, The Cigna Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $373.25.

Insider Activity

In other The Cigna Group news, insider Noelle K. Eder sold 9,944 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 13,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,289,920. This represents a 42.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,767 shares in the company, valued at $39,367,568.04. This 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 valued at $13,603,991 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Stock Performance

Shares of CI opened at $316.78 on Monday. The Cigna Group has a 52 week low of $262.03 and a 52 week high of $370.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $300.83 and a two-hundred 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 P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $6.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This is an increase from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is presently 49.35%.

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.