Xponance Inc. Trims Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Xponance Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 373 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln National by 3,930.8% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lincoln National by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Lincoln National by 115.2% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 938 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lincoln National by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Lincoln National from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.45.

Lincoln National Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $27.81 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.45. Lincoln National Co. has a 12-month low of $18.50 and a 12-month high of $32.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.57, a PEG ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.81.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Lincoln National had a negative net margin of 6.46% and a positive return on equity of 20.81%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln National news, Director Owen Ryan purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $259,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company 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.