Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) Stock

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Barclays from $310.00 to $320.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the health services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 9.20% from the stock’s current price.

CI has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cigna Group in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Cigna Group in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird set a $362.00 price objective on Cigna Group in a report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial cut 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, Evercore began coverage on Cigna Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $336.20.

Cigna Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Cigna Group stock traded down $0.56 on Monday, reaching $293.04. The stock had a trading volume of 285,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,668,459. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $285.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $282.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Cigna Group has a 1 year low of $256.52 and a 1 year high of $318.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.25.

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The health services provider reported $7.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.52 by $0.46. Cigna Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 19.57%. The firm had revenue of $73.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.83 EPS. Cigna Group’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cigna Group will post 30.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cigna Group

In related news, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 2,677 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.61, for a total value of $748,515.97. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Everett Neville sold 617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.05, for a total value of $175,258.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cigna Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CI. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 840,098 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cigna Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,628,918,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Cigna Group by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,182,083 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $848,821,000 after buying an additional 256,677 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Cigna Group by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,426,218 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $647,008,000 after buying an additional 236,340 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Cigna Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $542,779,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Cigna Group Company Profile

The Cigna Group is a global health services company that provides health insurance and related services through its Cigna Healthcare and Evernorth Health Services businesses. Cigna Healthcare offers medical, dental, behavioral health and other coverage and services to employers, individuals and government-program members.

Evernorth provides pharmacy benefit management, specialty pharmacy, care delivery and other health services. Its offerings include prescription drug benefits and services for people with complex or chronic conditions.

The company serves customers in the United States and select international markets.