M&T Bank Corp Decreases Stake in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its position in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 546 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 182.2% in the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total value of $1,429,929.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 154,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,051,463.56. This trade represents a 22.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of Lincoln National 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 48,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,613,393.30. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lincoln National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.78.

Lincoln National Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE LNC opened at $34.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.90, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.99. Lincoln National Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.58 and a twelve month high of $39.85.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. Lincoln National had a net margin of 7.00% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid 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 5.22%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.57%.

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.