M&A Time? Health Services Giants Are Having An Enormous Day

Shares of CIGNA Corporation (NYSE: CI) are surging on Monday afternoon, up $19.80 to $157.12, a gain of nearly 15 percent.

The stock first spiked around mid-day on Monday, after Dow Jones reported that Anthem Inc (NYSE: ANTM) was interested in a bid for the company at $175 per share. Wall Street firm Susquehanna also believes Anthem could pay $185 per share for Cigna, with synergies potentially larger than $1 billion, according to Benzinga Pro.

Two hours later, both Aetna Inc (NYSE: AET) and UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) shares spiked after rumors of a new Dow Jones report that the latter could be interested in bidding for Cigna or Aetna.

Related Link: Does Anthem Want Cigna For $175/Share? Some Investors Are Buying Into The Rumor

Of note, Humana Inc (NYSE: HUM) was linked to buyout discussions with both Aetna and Cigna last month. At the time, the Wall Street Journal said a merger could "trigger a widely anticipated wave of consolidation in the industry."

Earlier in June, Oppenheimer analyst Ari Wald named Cigna his top healthcare stock pick from a technical standpoint, though this analysis was unrelated to M&A speculation.

The stock had healthy support on the chart when it traded near $138, according to Wald.