Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $338.24.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CI. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cigna Group in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $336.00 to $307.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cigna Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 26th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Cigna Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cigna Group in a research note on Thursday, October 1st.

Insider Transactions at Cigna Group

In other news, insider Nicole Jones sold 2,677 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.61, for a total value of $748,515.97. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,236,306.80. This trade represents a 9.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Everett Neville sold 617 shares of Cigna Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.05, for a total value of $175,258.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,435,304.65. The trade was a 10.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,730 shares of company stock valued at $6,293,359. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cigna Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cigna Group by 3.7% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,438,250 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $6,461,457,000 after acquiring an additional 840,098 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Cigna Group during the second quarter valued at $1,628,918,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Cigna Group by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,182,083 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $848,821,000 after acquiring an additional 256,677 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Cigna Group by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,426,218 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $647,008,000 after acquiring an additional 236,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Cigna Group in the 2nd quarter worth $542,779,000. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cigna Group Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:CI opened at $297.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Cigna Group has a 12 month low of $239.51 and a 12 month high of $316.27. The company has a market cap of $78.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $283.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.42.

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The health services provider reported $7.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.60 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $71.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.14 billion. Cigna Group had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 2.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.20 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Cigna Group will post 30.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Cigna Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.56 per share. This represents a $6.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 3rd. Cigna Group’s payout ratio is currently 25.82%.

Cigna Group News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Cigna Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cigna declared a quarterly dividend of $1.56 per share, unchanged from the prior payment. The dividend implies $6.24 in annualized payouts and a yield of approximately 2.1%, supporting the stock’s income appeal. Shareholders of record on December 3 will be paid on December 17. The Cigna Group Declares Quarterly Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Cigna is expected to report quarterly results Thursday. Investors will focus on medical-cost trends, health-services performance, client retention and the profitability of customer contracts. Cigna Group Expected to Post Earnings on Thursday
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks analysts expect Cigna to report an earnings decline and say the company does not currently have the factors typically associated with a likely earnings beat. That could limit upside ahead of the results and increase sensitivity to guidance. Analysts Estimate Cigna to Report a Decline in Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: A proposed House bill could impose stricter prior-authorization deadlines, greater coverage transparency, limits on midyear benefit changes and additional out-of-network reimbursement and billing requirements. The measure has no cosponsors and would generally take effect in 2029, making the risk longer term rather than an immediate earnings factor. Ending Patient Runaround Act

About Cigna Group

The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI) is a global health services company that provides insurance coverage, health care benefits and related services. Its operations are primarily organized through Cigna Healthcare, which offers medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health and other benefit programs to employers, government organizations and individuals, primarily in the United States.

The company also operates Evernorth Health Services, a health services platform that includes pharmacy benefit management, specialty pharmacy, care management and health-care delivery capabilities.