Amundi Lowers Holdings in Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Amundi decreased its stake in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 41.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 48,954 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $2,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 11,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its position in Lincoln National by 4.7% during the first quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 7,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management boosted its position in Lincoln National by 18.1% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its position in Lincoln National by 5.9% during the first quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 7,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Lincoln National by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total transaction of $196,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 123,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,864,691.35. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Cfra Research upgraded Lincoln National to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.70.

Lincoln National Price Performance

NYSE:LNC opened at $42.18 on Friday. Lincoln National Corporation has a one year low of $27.58 and a one year high of $43.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a PE ratio of 7.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.33.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 19.14% and a net margin of 6.34%.During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.41%.

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.