OneAscent Financial Services LLC Buys New Stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,312 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $454,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in The Cigna Group by 4.4% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,872 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $4,916,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its stake in The Cigna Group by 3,669.7% in the third quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 24,013 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $8,319,000 after acquiring an additional 23,376 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 75.6% during 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 last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in The Cigna Group during the second quarter worth about $489,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in The Cigna Group by 36.0% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,276 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $5,548,000 after buying an additional 4,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $435.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $405.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of The Cigna Group in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of The Cigna Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Cigna Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $394.64.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

Shares of CI stock opened at $322.40 on Tuesday. The Cigna Group has a 1 year low of $253.95 and a 1 year high of $370.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $338.17 and its 200-day moving average is $339.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.42, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The health services provider reported $7.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.22 by $0.29. The Cigna Group had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 18.42%. The business had revenue of $63.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.77 earnings per share. The Cigna Group’s revenue was up 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Cigna Group will post 28.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Cigna Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.83%.

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.