Lincoln National Corporation $LNC Position Trimmed by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 326,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $11,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 82.9% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 3,927.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional increased its stake in Lincoln National by 354.2% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Stock Down 0.5%

Lincoln National stock opened at $41.14 on Friday. Lincoln National Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.58 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market cap of $7.81 billion, a PE ratio of 7.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.85.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.20. Lincoln National had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 19.14%. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on LNC. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Owen Ryan purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $42.17 per share, with a total value of $84,340.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 12,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $506,040. This trade represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.