New Century Financial Group LLC Has $400,000 Stock Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

New Century Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 74.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,989 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LNC. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth approximately $450,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 53.9% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 152,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,846,000 after buying an additional 53,300 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 6,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 2,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth approximately $295,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other news, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.10, for a total transaction of $333,482.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,613,393.30. This trade represents a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total transaction of $1,429,929.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 154,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,051,463.56. This represents a 22.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of LNC stock opened at $32.43 on Friday. Lincoln National Co. has a 52-week low of $27.58 and a 52-week high of $39.85. The stock has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a PE ratio of 1.76, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.40. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $32.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.84.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 5.55%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is presently 25.57%.

Lincoln National Company 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.