T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Shares in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,623,729 shares of the health services provider's stock, valued at approximately $724,517,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.94% of The Cigna Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sterling Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Cigna Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,367,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Cigna Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 323,911 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $112,216,000 after purchasing an additional 11,228 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in The Cigna Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 75,837 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $20,942,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its position in The Cigna Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 56,933 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $15,721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,466 shares during the period. 86.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at The Cigna Group

In other news, Director Elder Granger sold 2,376 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.35, for a total value of $737,391.60. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Noelle K. Eder sold 9,944 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.00, for a total value of $3,182,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,406 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,289,920. The trade was a 42.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 43,751 shares of company stock valued at $13,603,991. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CI. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on 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 lowered their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $403.00 to $379.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of The Cigna Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $323.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of The Cigna Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $355.00 target price on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Cigna Group has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $373.56.

The Cigna Group Stock Performance

Shares of CI stock opened at $336.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $317.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $310.60. The Cigna Group has a 12 month low of $262.03 and a 12 month high of $370.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.20 billion, a PE ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.51.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 quarter last year, the business posted $6.79 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 29.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. This is an increase from The Cigna Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The Cigna Group's dividend payout ratio is 49.35%.

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.

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