Independent Advisor Alliance Has $1.63 Million Stock Holdings in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 179.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,895 shares of the health services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,784 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $1,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Cigna Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $313,911,000. Amundi raised its stake in The Cigna Group by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,254,050 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $628,579,000 after buying an additional 374,865 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 55.1% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 884,406 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $244,220,000 after buying an additional 314,123 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in The Cigna Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,230,397 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $4,929,978,000 after acquiring an additional 279,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in The Cigna Group by 34,280.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 238,603 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $65,888,000 after acquiring an additional 237,909 shares during the period. 86.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at The Cigna Group

In other news, insider Noelle K. Eder sold 9,944 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 $4,289,920. This represents a 42.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total transaction of $8,173,499.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,367,568.04. The trade was a 17.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,375 shares of company stock valued at $12,866,600. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CI. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $348.00 price objective (down from $394.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded The Cigna Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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 downgraded shares of The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Cigna Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $372.31.

The Cigna Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of The Cigna Group stock opened at $313.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $316.78. The 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 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is 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%.

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.