Balboa Wealth Partners Reduces Holdings in The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI)

Balboa Wealth Partners reduced its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 826 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 36 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in The Cigna Group were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CI. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 6.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,341,233 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $5,208,593,000 after buying an additional 867,180 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 63.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,547,245 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $510,467,000 after buying an additional 600,215 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of The Cigna Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $161,300,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 23.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,138,193 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $706,822,000 after buying an additional 405,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of The Cigna Group by 145.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 683,361 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $225,899,000 after buying an additional 404,791 shares during the last quarter. 86.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $384.00 to $377.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $405.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $402.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $394.00 price target (up previously from $392.00) on shares of The Cigna Group in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Cigna Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $394.64.

The Cigna Group Price Performance

CI opened at $321.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The Cigna Group has a 52-week low of $253.95 and a 52-week high of $370.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $339.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $339.91. The company has a market cap of $89.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.51.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $63.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.58 billion. The Cigna Group had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 18.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.77 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Cigna Group will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current year.

The Cigna Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The Cigna Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William J. Delaney III sold 2,691 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.68, for a total value of $922,151.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,264.52. This represents a 13.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

The Cigna Group Profile

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.