Lynch & Associates IN Grows Stock Position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Lynch & Associates IN increased its stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 15.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,350 shares of the health services provider’s stock after buying an additional 585 shares during the quarter. Lynch & Associates IN’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $1,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in The Cigna Group by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,872 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $4,916,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 98,980.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,954 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,497,000 after buying an additional 4,949 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 75.6% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 3,783 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 63.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 101,772 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $30,475,000 after acquiring an additional 39,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in The Cigna Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $489,000. 86.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded The Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $393.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $435.00 to $438.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $388.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William J. Delaney III sold 2,691 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.68, for a total transaction of $922,151.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,264.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Elder Granger sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.08, for a total value of $338,080.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,471 shares in the company, valued at $1,849,635.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director William J. Delaney III sold 2,691 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.68, for a total transaction of $922,151.88. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,264.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,033 shares of company stock valued at $3,095,820. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

The Cigna Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CI opened at $353.49 on Friday. The Cigna Group has a 12-month low of $253.95 and a 12-month high of $370.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $340.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $343.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.42 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The health services provider reported $6.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.42 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $60.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.30 billion. The Cigna Group had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 1.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Cigna Group will post 28.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.98%.

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.