Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Trims Stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its position in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,744,197 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 655,969 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.63% of The Cigna Group worth $481,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in The Cigna Group in the 4th quarter valued at $4,367,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 323,911 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $112,216,000 after buying an additional 11,228 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 75,837 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $20,942,000 after buying an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in The Cigna Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 56,933 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $15,721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its position in The Cigna Group by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 15,713 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $5,444,000 after acquiring an additional 3,466 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CI opened at $324.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The Cigna Group has a 1-year low of $262.03 and a 1-year high of $370.83. The stock has a market cap of $88.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $304.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $313.78.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm earned $6.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a boost from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CI. StockNews.com raised The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on The Cigna Group from $403.00 to $379.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on The Cigna Group from $410.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $355.00 target price on The Cigna Group in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $373.25.

Insider Transactions at The Cigna Group

In other The Cigna Group news, Director Elder Granger sold 2,376 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.35, for a total value of $737,391.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,471 shares in the company, valued at $1,697,924.85. The trade was a 30.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 sold a total of 43,751 shares of company stock worth $13,603,991 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.