Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 61,676 CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 61,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,295,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in CNO Financial Group by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CNO Financial Group by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in CNO Financial Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 22,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in CNO Financial Group by 95.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in CNO Financial Group by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 6,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. 95.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of CNO Financial Group from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $46.00 target price (up previously from $44.00) on shares of CNO Financial Group in a report on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on CNO Financial Group from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of CNO Financial Group in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CNO Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.50.

Insider Activity

In other CNO Financial Group news, General Counsel Matthew J. Zimpfer sold 40,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.10, for a total transaction of $1,636,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 204,143 shares in the company, valued at $8,186,134.30. This trade represents a 16.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Yvonne K. Franzese sold 2,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,290,461.76. This trade represents a 6.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,819 shares of company stock valued at $5,886,922 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

CNO Financial Group Stock Performance

CNO stock opened at $41.46 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.45 and a 200-day moving average of $38.10. The firm has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.02. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.92 and a 12-month high of $43.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts expect that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. CNO Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 17.11%.

CNO Financial Group Company 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.