Vontobel Holding Ltd. Purchases 1,847 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,710 shares of the health services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,847 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $5,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter worth $4,377,000. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter worth $2,811,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in The Cigna Group by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 293,438 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $87,870,000 after buying an additional 66,891 shares during the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter worth $2,244,000. Finally, Dfpg Investments LLC lifted its position in The Cigna Group by 92.0% in the fourth quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 3,430 shares during the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 38,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.22, for a total value of $12,760,149.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 329,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,394,985.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 38,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.22, for a total value of $12,760,149.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 329,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $110,394,985.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 1,017 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.26, for a total value of $340,959.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,275,786.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,144 shares of company stock valued at $39,296,330. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised their price target on The Cigna Group from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded The Cigna Group from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $327.00 to $354.00 in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $384.00 target price on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded The Cigna Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on The Cigna Group from $334.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $362.14.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

CI opened at $345.86 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $347.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.79. The Cigna Group has a 1 year low of $240.50 and a 1 year high of $365.71. 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 has a market capitalization of $101.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.56.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.25. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 13.59% and a net margin of 2.64%. The company had revenue of $51.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Cigna Group will post 28.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This is an increase from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.23. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.20%.

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.