Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lowered its holdings in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 91.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,017 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 78,719 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Lincoln National were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their target price on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.60.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total transaction of $1,429,929.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 154,102 shares in the company, valued at $5,051,463.56. The trade was a 22.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.10, for a total value of $333,482.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 48,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,613,393.30. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln National Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:LNC traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $34.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,996,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,676,646. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Lincoln National Corporation has a 1 year low of $27.58 and a 1 year high of $39.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.89.

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

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.57%.

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.