Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Cuts Stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lowered its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,322 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 227 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $1,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,967,363 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $4,567,783,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939,554 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 154,255.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,954,841 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $3,961,117,000 after acquiring an additional 11,947,096 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,833,753 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $3,385,282,000 after acquiring an additional 345,605 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,973,106 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,422,657,000 after acquiring an additional 225,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,244,157 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $928,056,000 after acquiring an additional 181,385 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE CI opened at $349.84 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $346.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $313.73. The company has a market capitalization of $102.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.56. The Cigna Group has a 12 month low of $240.50 and a 12 month high of $365.71.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.25. The Cigna Group had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 13.59%. The company had revenue of $51.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.96 EPS. The Cigna Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Cigna Group will post 28.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This is a boost from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.23. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.20%.

Insider Transactions at The Cigna Group

In other news, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total value of $11,084,500.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 348,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $123,618,339.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total value of $11,084,500.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 348,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $123,618,339.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Hoeltzel Mary T. Agoglia sold 4,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.48, for a total transaction of $1,608,446.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,668.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 114,144 shares of company stock worth $39,296,330. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $330.00 to $372.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $334.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays began coverage on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $393.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $362.14.

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.