Stephens Inc. AR Sells 1,075 Shares of Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its stake in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 7.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,075 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $436,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 383.2% during the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln National during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 82.9% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Lincoln National during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, CX Institutional increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 354.2% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cfra Research upgraded Lincoln National to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded Lincoln National to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. National Bankshares set a $53.00 target price on Lincoln National in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Lincoln National from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $43.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total value of $196,450.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 123,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,864,691.35. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:LNC opened at $39.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.30. Lincoln National Corporation has a 1 year low of $27.58 and a 1 year high of $43.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $4.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business posted $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.41%.

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.