South Dakota Investment Council Sells 1,437 Shares of Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its holdings in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,437 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $3,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. DMC Group LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 47.1% in the first quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 25,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $925,000 after buying an additional 8,250 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 4,083.7% in the first quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 19,234 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 6.1% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,566,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,155,000 after purchasing an additional 146,667 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln National in the first quarter worth $449,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 3.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 267,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,595,000 after purchasing an additional 10,018 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LNC shares. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Lincoln National to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Lincoln National to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $42.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 123,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,864,691.35. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of LNC stock opened at $40.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.72 and a 200-day moving average of $36.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Lincoln National Corporation has a 12-month low of $27.58 and a 12-month high of $43.66. The company has a market capitalization of $7.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.43.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.16%.

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.