Sigma Planning Corp Reduces Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Sigma Planning Corp decreased its position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 62.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 26,639 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $424,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 2,107.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,279,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,703,000 after purchasing an additional 4,085,637 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln National by 53.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,157,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098,532 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln National by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,960,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,409,000 after acquiring an additional 412,312 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln National by 82.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,758,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,424,000 after acquiring an additional 792,900 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Lincoln National by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,468,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,269,000 after acquiring an additional 289,733 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln National news, Director Owen Ryan bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.90 per share, with a total value of $259,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on LNC shares. TheStreet cut shares of Lincoln National from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Lincoln National from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.45.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $27.81 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. Lincoln National Co. has a 1 year low of $18.50 and a 1 year high of $32.43.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.13. Lincoln National had a negative net margin of 6.46% and a positive return on equity of 20.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.47%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently -36.07%.

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.