Demars Financial Group LLC Decreases Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Demars Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 82.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,121 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 10,169 shares during the quarter. The Cigna Group makes up 0.3% of Demars Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Demars Financial Group LLC’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 13.8% in the third 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 3.0% in the third 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 lifted its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 4.7% in the third 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. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 5.9% in the third 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. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 2.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,570,994 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $735,484,000 after acquiring an additional 72,714 shares in the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $392.00 price objective (up from $382.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded The Cigna Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $330.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. 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. StockNews.com upgraded The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded The Cigna Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $355.00 to $370.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $362.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total transaction of $11,084,500.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 348,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,618,339.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other The Cigna Group news, CEO David Cordani sold 31,209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.17, for a total transaction of $11,084,500.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 348,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,618,339.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric P. Palmer sold 6,083 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $2,068,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,180,660. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 114,144 shares of company stock valued at $39,296,330 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

CI stock opened at $352.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Cigna Group has a 1 year low of $240.50 and a 1 year high of $365.71. The firm has a market cap of $103.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $349.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $316.84.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The health services provider reported $6.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $51.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.91 billion. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 13.59% and a net margin of 2.64%. The Cigna Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

About The Cigna Group

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.