CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) Shares Sold by Easterly Investment Partners LLC

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 528,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 81,112 shares during the quarter. CNO Financial Group accounts for 1.5% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in CNO Financial Group were worth $19,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of CNO Financial Group by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,274,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,419,000 after acquiring an additional 372,701 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in CNO Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $431,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in CNO Financial Group by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 253,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,419,000 after purchasing an additional 86,193 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in CNO Financial Group by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 18,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in CNO Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $506,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CNO. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (up from $44.00) on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on CNO Financial Group from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 2,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.56, for a total transaction of $89,248.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,321 shares in the company, valued at $1,290,461.76. This represents a 6.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 25,500 shares of CNO Financial Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.11, for a total value of $1,022,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 169,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,792,307.62. The trade was a 13.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 142,806 shares of company stock valued at $5,802,013 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.21% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CNO opened at $42.34 on Thursday. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.92 and a fifty-two week high of $43.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 1.02.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.25. CNO Financial Group had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 9.08%. As a group, analysts forecast that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. CNO Financial Group’s payout ratio is 17.11%.

CNO Financial Group Profile

CNO Financial Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, develops, markets, and administers health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, insurance products, and financial services for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. It offers Medicare supplement, supplemental health, and long-term care insurance policies; life insurance; and annuities, as well as Medicare advantage plans to individuals through phone, online, mail, and face-to-face.