Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Has $398,000 Stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lessened its position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,443 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,230,397 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $4,929,978,000 after acquiring an additional 279,880 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in The Cigna Group by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,054,958 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $3,829,880,000 after buying an additional 130,048 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,855,443 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $2,021,563,000 after acquiring an additional 22,408 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in The Cigna Group by 2.1% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,922,121 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,012,340,000 after buying an additional 59,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,254,050 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $628,579,000 after acquiring an additional 374,865 shares during the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded The Cigna Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $348.00 price objective (down previously from $394.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $370.00 to $341.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of The Cigna Group from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, The Cigna Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.31.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

Shares of The Cigna Group stock opened at $326.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.71, 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $293.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $317.40.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The health services provider reported $6.64 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.79 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 EPS for the current year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. This is a boost from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The Cigna Group’s payout ratio is currently 49.35%.

Insider Transactions at The Cigna Group

In other news, CEO David Cordani sold 26,527 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,367,568.04. This represents a 17.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 29,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,065,198.52. This represents a 14.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.