Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 6,014 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 270,005 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 6,014 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.10% of The Cigna Group worth $74,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in The Cigna Group by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,230,397 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $4,929,978,000 after purchasing an additional 279,880 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in The Cigna Group by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,054,958 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $3,829,880,000 after purchasing an additional 130,048 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in The Cigna Group by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,855,443 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $2,021,563,000 after purchasing an additional 22,408 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in The Cigna Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,922,121 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,012,340,000 after purchasing an additional 59,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in The Cigna Group by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,254,050 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $628,579,000 after purchasing an additional 374,865 shares in the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CI shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on The Cigna Group from $370.00 to $341.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group cut their target price on The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays cut their target price on The Cigna Group from $420.00 to $339.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on The Cigna Group from $390.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Cigna Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $372.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 owns 127,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,367,568.04. This represents a 17.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Elder Granger sold 2,376 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.35, for a total transaction of $737,391.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,697,924.85. The trade was a 30.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,751 shares of company stock worth $13,603,991 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:CI opened at $322.15 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $88.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $298.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $315.64. The Cigna Group has a 1 year low of $262.03 and a 1 year high of $370.83. 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 (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 the consensus estimate 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 company posted $6.79 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 EPS for the current year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. This is an increase from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.35%.

About The 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.