Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 242 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,729 shares of the health services provider’s stock after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $6,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CI. Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 4.4% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,076 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 16.6% in the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,083 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,225 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 21.8% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 10.0% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 103,777 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $29,687,000 after purchasing an additional 9,467 shares in the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Cigna Group

In other The Cigna Group news, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 1,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.26, for a total transaction of $340,959.42. Following the sale, the insider now owns 45,564 shares in the company, valued at $15,275,786.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Hoeltzel Mary T. Agoglia sold 4,867 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.48, for a total value of $1,608,446.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,668.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 1,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.26, for a total value of $340,959.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,275,786.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 114,144 shares of company stock worth $39,296,330 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on CI shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays began coverage on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $393.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 price target (up from $382.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Monday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, The Cigna Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.14.

The Cigna Group Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of CI traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $342.41. 1,320,046 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,590,367. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The Cigna Group has a 1-year low of $240.50 and a 1-year high of $365.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $350.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $319.93. The company has a market cap of $97.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.57.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.17 by $0.30. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business had revenue of $57.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Cigna Group will post 28.45 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.98%.

The Cigna Group Company 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.