Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) Stock Price

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) had its target price reduced by Piper Sandler from $370.00 to $360.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the health services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 19.50% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CI. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Cigna Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $336.00 to $307.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cigna Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $337.00 target price on shares of Cigna Group in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $390.00 target price on Cigna Group in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $362.00 price target on Cigna Group in a report on Friday, July 31st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $340.30.

Cigna Group Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE CI opened at $301.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $79.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $282.49. Cigna Group has a one year low of $257.85 and a one year high of $318.05.

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The health services provider reported $7.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.52 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $73.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.64 billion. Cigna Group had a net margin of 2.09% and a return on equity of 19.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.83 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cigna Group will post 30.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 2,677 shares of Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.61, for a total transaction of $748,515.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,236,306.80. The trade was a 9.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Everett Neville sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.05, for a total value of $175,258.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,435,304.65. This trade represents a 10.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cigna Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Cigna Group during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Cigna Group during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Cigna Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cigna Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Cigna Group Company Profile

The Cigna Group is a global health services company that provides health insurance and related services through its Cigna Healthcare and Evernorth Health Services businesses. Cigna Healthcare offers medical, dental, behavioral health and other coverage and services to employers, individuals and government-program members. Evernorth provides pharmacy benefit management, specialty pharmacy, care delivery and other health services. Its offerings include prescription drug benefits and services for people with complex or chronic conditions.