Advisors Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Cigna Group $CI

Advisors Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,679 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cigna Group were worth $553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CI. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Cigna Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $727,905,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Cigna Group by 58,799.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,774,626 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $583,852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,771,613 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Cigna Group by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,056,806 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $3,966,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094,327 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Cigna Group by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,886,674 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,607,716,000 after acquiring an additional 865,092 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Cigna Group by 278.0% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 816,200 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $225,385,000 after acquiring an additional 600,300 shares during the period. 86.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Cigna Group from $354.00 to $383.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Cigna Group in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Cigna Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (down from $388.00) on shares of Cigna Group in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Cigna Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $374.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 28,526 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $8,557,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,694,400. The trade was a 52.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Cigna Group Price Performance

CI stock opened at $302.71 on Friday. Cigna Group has a 52-week low of $256.89 and a 52-week high of $370.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $295.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $312.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48.

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The health services provider reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.15 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $67.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.61 billion. Cigna Group had a return on equity of 18.80% and a net margin of 1.92%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.72 earnings per share. Cigna Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 29.600- EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Cigna Group will post 29.77 EPS for the current year.

Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Cigna Group’s payout ratio is presently 32.97%.

About 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.