Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 15,776 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 739.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,910 shares of the health services provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,776 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $4,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CI. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 26.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 570,283 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $197,569,000 after purchasing an additional 119,681 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 23.6% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 661 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC purchased a new stake in The Cigna Group during the third quarter valued at about $330,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 8.6% during the third quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 203.0% during the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 125,529 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $43,488,000 after purchasing an additional 84,096 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $370.00 to $341.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $390.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $403.00 to $379.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $372.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 4,904 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total value of $1,511,020.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,065,198.52. The trade was a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.12, for a total transaction of $8,173,499.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,367,568.04. The trade was a 17.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,375 shares of company stock valued at $12,866,600 over the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

The Cigna Group Trading Up 0.4 %

CI stock opened at $313.35 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.76 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. The Cigna Group has a one year low of $262.03 and a one year high of $370.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $296.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $316.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.66.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.84 by ($1.20). The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 18.61% and a net margin of 1.39%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.79 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is an increase from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is presently 49.35%.

The Cigna Group 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.