Arizona State Retirement System Reduces Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 47,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 856 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 3,930.8% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the first quarter valued at $30,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 115.2% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 47.0% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lincoln National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.45.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, Director Owen Ryan purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.55% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $28.28 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of -5.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.17. Lincoln National Co. has a one year low of $18.50 and a one year high of $32.43.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.13. Lincoln National had a negative net margin of 6.46% and a positive return on equity of 20.81%. The business had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Research analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.36%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is -36.07%.

About Lincoln National

Lincoln National Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses in the United States. It operates in four segments: Life Insurance, Annuities, Group Protection, and Retirement Plan Services. The Life Insurance segment provides life insurance products, including term insurance, universal life insurance (UL), indexed universal life insurance, variable universal life insurance (VUL), linked-benefit UL and VUL products, and critical illness and long-term care riders.