Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $15.72 Million Stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 50.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,943 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,064 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $15,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CI. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 55.1% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 884,406 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $244,220,000 after purchasing an additional 314,123 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $4,929,978,000 after buying an additional 279,880 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in The Cigna Group by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 497,875 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $137,483,000 after buying an additional 202,161 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Cigna Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $69,972,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in The Cigna Group by 995.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 215,900 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $74,796,000 after acquiring an additional 196,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CI shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $390.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on The Cigna Group from $398.00 to $394.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stephens decreased their price target on The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Cigna Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $372.31.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

CI opened at $300.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $286.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $319.23. The Cigna Group has a twelve month low of $262.03 and a twelve month high of $370.83. 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 company has a market capitalization of $83.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 earnings per share (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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.79 EPS. Equities 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 paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. This is an increase from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.