Despite reports that merger talks were back on, Cigna officially squashed rumors that it was looking to acquire Humana in a statement on Monday.
The Cigna Group said that it will be meeting with investors over the next several weeks as 2024 comes to a close, and "expects to communicate that the company is not pursuing a combination with Humana Inc."
"The Cigna Group remains committed to its established M&A criteria and would only consider acquisitions that are strategically aligned, financially attractive, and have a high probability to close," according to the statement.
Cigna CEO David Cordani signaled that this was the case on Oct. 31 when as part of the company's third-quarter earnings call he said that it intended to put some of its free cash flow toward stock buybacks, which Wall Street analysts said made a deal with Humana look unlikely.
In the new statement, Cigna said it has completed $6 billion in stock buybacks this year, including $1 billion so far in the fourth quarter. It said it plans to put the bulk of the proceeds for the sales of its Medicare business, which is set to close this quarter, toward buybacks as well.
"The Cigna Group continues to deliver shareholder value through focused execution against stated operational and financial targets, and via disciplined capital deployment including dividends and share repurchase," the company said.
Cigna's shares were up by 6.58% at about 10 a.m. ET on Monday, while Humana stock was trading down by 4.25% following the news.
Sources told Bloomberg in mid-October that the merger talks with Humana were back from the dead, though nothing concrete had been decided at that time. The deal, however, would almost certainly have faced pushback from federal regulators, as antitrust enforcement has heated up under the Biden administration. Cigna is already in a tête-à-tête with the Federal Trade Commission over the pharmacy benefit management industry.