Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Stake Lowered by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 228,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,686 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $6,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth $815,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 307.5% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 5,225 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 37,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 5,064 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 4,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter worth $873,000. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln National Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of LNC opened at $28.10 on Friday. Lincoln National Co. has a 52 week low of $18.50 and a 52 week high of $32.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.56.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.13. Lincoln National had a net margin of 11.31% and a return on equity of 19.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LNC shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Lincoln National from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Lincoln National from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln National news, Director Owen Ryan purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.90 per share, with a total value of $259,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.