Wall Street Zen Upgrades Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) to Buy

by · The Markets Daily

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI – Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on CI. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $337.00 price objective on shares of Cigna Group in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Cigna Group from $304.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Cigna Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cigna Group in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Evercore initiated coverage on shares of Cigna Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $290.00 price target for the company. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $336.20.

Get Our Latest Report on Cigna Group

Cigna Group Stock Performance

Shares of Cigna Group stock opened at $295.37 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $286.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $282.27. Cigna Group has a 1-year low of $256.52 and a 1-year high of $318.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $78.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.25.

Cigna Group (NYSE:CI – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The health services provider reported $7.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.52 by $0.46. Cigna Group had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 2.27%. The company had revenue of $73.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cigna Group will post 30.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cigna Group

In related news, insider Nicole S. Jones sold 2,677 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 25,880 shares in the company, valued at $7,236,306.80. This trade represents a 9.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.05, for a total transaction of $175,258.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,435,304.65. The trade was 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. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cigna Group during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cigna Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Cigna Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new position in Cigna Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cigna Group by 161.9% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Cigna Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

The company serves customers in the United States and select international markets.

Further Reading