CNO Financial Group, Inc. $CNO Shares Newly Purchased by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in CNO Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $682,433,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $124,476,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,492,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,282,000 after acquiring an additional 114,000 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of CNO Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,034,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 855,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,259,000 after acquiring an additional 60,240 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CNO. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CNO Financial Group from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on CNO Financial Group from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded CNO Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Zacks Research raised CNO Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $70.00 price target on CNO Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

CNO Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of CNO Financial Group stock opened at $55.39 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.86. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.99 and a 52 week high of $59.15. The stock has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.80.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.80. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 22.64%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Karen J. Detoro sold 5,964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.12, for a total transaction of $328,735.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 36,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,009,124. This trade represents a 14.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeanne L. Linnenbringer sold 3,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.11, for a total transaction of $215,976.09. Following the sale, the insider owned 26,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,444,377.99. The trade was a 13.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 47,995 shares of company stock worth $2,641,336 in the last ninety days. 3.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CNO Financial Group Profile

CNO Financial Group is a U.S.-based insurance and financial services company focused on serving middle-income Americans, particularly people approaching or living in retirement. Through its insurance subsidiaries, it offers life insurance, annuities, and health insurance products, including Medicare supplement and supplemental health coverage.

The company distributes its products through a mix of career agents, independent producers, and direct-to-consumer channels. Its consumer brands include Bankers Life, Washington National, and Colonial Penn, serving customers across the United States.

Founded in 1979 as Conseco, the company adopted the name CNO Financial Group in 2010.