Farther Finance Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 19.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,607 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth about $450,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 53.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 152,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,846,000 after buying an additional 53,300 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 2,015 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new position in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth $295,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Lincoln National by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 45,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln National Stock Up 1.9%

LNC opened at $33.09 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.80, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.40. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.58 and a fifty-two week high of $39.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.44%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.82.

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

In other news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total value of $1,429,929.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 154,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,051,463.56. This represents a 22.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.10, for a total transaction of $333,482.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 48,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,613,393.30. This trade represents a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Profile

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.