Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

As of December 31, 2021, the number of shareholders of record was 31,489. Cigna's common stock is listed with, and trades on, the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CI".

In 2021, Cigna initiated a quarterly cash dividend and declared quarterly cash dividends of $1.00 per share of Cigna common stock. Cigna currently intends to pay regular quarterly dividends, with future declarations subject to approval by its Board of Directors and the Board's determination that the declaration of dividends remains in the best interests of Cigna and its shareholders. The decision of whether to pay future dividends and the amount of any such dividends will be based on the Company's financial position, results of operations, cash flows, capital requirements, the requirements of applicable law and any other factors the Board of Directors may deem relevant.

For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, Cigna paid a yearly cash dividend of $0.04 per share of Cigna common stock.

See Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on dividend payments.

For information on securities authorized for issuance under our existing equity compensation plans, see Item 12 under the heading "Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Rebated Stockholder Matters."

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

The following table provides information about Cigna's share repurchase activity for the quarter ended December 31, 2021:

*(1)*Includes shares tendered by employees under the Company's equity compensation plans as follows: 1) payment of taxes on vesting of restricted stock (grants and units) and strategic performance shares and 2) payment of the exercise price and taxes for certain stock options exercised. Employees tendered 567 shares in October, 2,226 shares in November and 7,528 shares in December 2021. Amount purchased also reflects the final delivery of 910,182 shares in November 2021 and 932,888 shares in December 2021 pursuant to the ASR agreements discussed in the Liquidity and Capital Resources section of Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Part I, Item 2. Such repurchases were made pursuant to the Company's share repurchase program described in note (2) of this table. Average price paid per share for shares not purchased pursuant to the ASR agreements was $215.20 in November 2021 and $213.17 in December 2021.

*(2)*Additionally, the Company maintains a share repurchase program authorized by the Board of Directors. Under this program, the Company may repurchase shares from time to time, depending on market conditions and alternate uses of capital. The timing and actual number of shares repurchased will depend on a variety of factors, including price, general business and market conditions and alternate uses of capital. The share repurchase program may be effected through Rule 10b5-1 plans, open market purchases, each in compliance with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act, or privately negotiated transactions. The program may be suspended or discontinued at any time and does not have an expiration date. In February 2022, the Board increased repurchase authority by an additional $2.0 billion. Share repurchase authority was $6.0 billion as of February 23, 2022.

*(3)*Approximate dollar value of shares is as of the last date of the applicable month.

Stock Price Performance Graph

The graph below compares the cumulative total shareholder return on our common stock for the five years ended December 31, 2021 with the cumulative total return of the Standard & Poor's ("S&P") 500 Index and the S&P 500 Health Care Index. The stock performance shown in the graph is not intended to forecast or be indicative of future performance.