Cigna Group $CI Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 751,847 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 10,484 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.28% of Cigna Group worth $204,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in Cigna Group during the 2nd quarter worth $1,628,918,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Cigna Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $827,692,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Cigna Group in the second quarter valued at about $542,779,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Cigna Group during the second quarter worth about $241,312,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Cigna Group by 3.7% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,438,250 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $6,461,457,000 after acquiring an additional 840,098 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Cigna Group Trading Down 0.0%

CI opened at $298.13 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $283.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $281.53. Cigna Group has a 1-year low of $239.51 and a 1-year high of $316.27. The company has a market cap of $78.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The health services provider reported $7.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.18. Cigna Group had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 2.27%. The business had revenue of $71.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Cigna Group will post 30.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.56 dividend. This represents a $6.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Everett Neville sold 617 shares of Cigna Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.05, for a total transaction of $175,258.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,435,304.65. This trade represents a 10.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 19,436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.27, for a total transaction of $5,369,583.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,530,015.12. The trade was a 41.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,730 shares of company stock worth $6,293,359. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Cigna Group from $304.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Evercore assumed coverage on shares of Cigna Group in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cigna Group in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial lowered Cigna Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Cigna Group from $338.00 to $361.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $338.24.

Cigna Group Profile

The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI) is a global health services company that provides insurance coverage, health care benefits and related services. Its operations are primarily organized through Cigna Healthcare, which offers medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health and other benefit programs to employers, government organizations and individuals, primarily in the United States.

The company also operates Evernorth Health Services, a health services platform that includes pharmacy benefit management, specialty pharmacy, care management and health-care delivery capabilities.