Key Takeaways Humana beat first-quarter profit and sales estimates as it reduced costs and exited some Medicare Advantage plans.The insurer posted a membership decline, which is said was mostly because it pulled out of what it called "unprofitable" Medicare Advantage plans and counties.

Humana reported $1.2 billion in first quarter net income as the company gets better control of medical cost trends in its Medicare Advantage plans.

While Humana affirmed its full-year profit outlook, which can be viewed as a positive in the current uncertain economic environment, quarterly revenue came up a bit shy, and the earnings outlook for the current quarter was below Wall Street projections.