D.A. Davidson & CO. Reduces Stock Position in Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its stake in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 5.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,439 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its stake in Lincoln National by 383.2% during the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 82.9% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Lincoln National during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, CX Institutional raised its stake in Lincoln National by 354.2% during the second 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions 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 stock was sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total transaction of $196,450.00. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lincoln National Price Performance

LNC stock opened at $40.15 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a PE ratio of 7.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.45. Lincoln National Corporation has a 12-month low of $27.58 and a 12-month high of $43.66.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.45. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 19.14% and a net margin of 6.34%.The company had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is 31.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Lincoln National from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Lincoln National to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $43.09.

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.