Altrius Capital Management Inc Acquires 856 Shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,416 shares of the health services provider’s stock after buying an additional 856 shares during the quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $3,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Adero Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 788 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 3.0% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in The Cigna Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,883 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in The Cigna Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 1,080 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in The Cigna Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,770 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,869,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CI shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $348.00 target price (down previously from $394.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $398.00 to $394.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of The Cigna Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $323.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on The Cigna Group from $370.00 to $341.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on The Cigna Group from $420.00 to $339.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Cigna Group has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $372.31.

The Cigna Group Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:CI opened at $303.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $84.39 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $288.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $318.87. 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 one year low of $262.03 and a one year high of $370.83.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last announced its 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 period last year, the company earned $6.79 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This is a positive change from The Cigna Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.