Cresset Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Cresset Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 70.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,956 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 182.2% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Lincoln National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.27.

Lincoln National Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of LNC stock opened at $34.17 on Friday. Lincoln National Co. has a 52-week low of $27.58 and a 52-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. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a PE ratio of 1.86, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.08.

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

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 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.