Bessemer Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC)

Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 58.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,388 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 65,407 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Lincoln National by 1,370.7% during the 1st quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 150,201 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,394,000 after purchasing an additional 139,988 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 29,589 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,063,000 after buying an additional 2,059 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 48,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,736,000 after buying an additional 6,199 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 24,445 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 6,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 1st quarter valued at $310,000. 72.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total transaction of $1,429,929.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 154,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,051,463.56. The trade was a 22.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 48,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,613,393.30. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $34.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.91, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.40. The firm's 50-day moving average is $33.01 and its 200 day moving average is $33.75. Lincoln National Corporation has a 1 year low of $27.58 and a 1 year high of $39.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.25 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 7.00% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Lincoln National's payout ratio is presently 25.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LNC. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lincoln National from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, June 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.70.

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.

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