Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Cigna Group from $338.00 to $361.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on Cigna Group from $304.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cigna Group from $305.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial downgraded Cigna Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $337.00 target price on shares of Cigna Group in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $338.24.

Cigna Group Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of CI opened at $295.20 on Friday. Cigna Group has a twelve month low of $239.51 and a twelve month high of $316.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $284.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.65.

Cigna Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Cigna Group

In related news, insider Everett Neville sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.05, for a total value of $175,258.85. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,435,304.65. The trade was a 10.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Nicole Jones sold 2,677 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.61, for a total value of $748,515.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,236,306.80. This represents a 9.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cigna Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Cigna Group by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 65,662 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $17,515,000 after acquiring an additional 5,963 shares in the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cigna Group during the second quarter worth $2,808,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Cigna Group by 6.4% during the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 380,034 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $104,768,000 after purchasing an additional 22,978 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Cigna Group in the second quarter valued at $15,300,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cigna Group in the second quarter valued at $11,043,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

About Cigna Group

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.