Cigna Corp. Chief Executive Officer David Cordani laid out his plan to reach ambitious earnings goals after the implosion of the health insurer’s mega-merger with Anthem Inc.: increasing sales to seniors and to mid-sized employers.

The strategy means largely sticking with what Cigna knows best, which Cordani says will fuel rapid growth in per-share earnings, with a target of $16 a share by 2021, up from an estimated $9.35 to $9.85 this year. Deals -- the company has as much as $14 billion to spend this year -- could help accelerate the expansion, the CEO said, but he’s not counting on them.

“It’s not dependent upon an acquisition or a transaction,” Cordani said in an interview. “We will deploy the excess capital to create shareholder value, either through accretive M&A, or through share buyback.”