Two Sigma Advisers LP Sells 274,800 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lowered its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,080,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 274,800 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned 1.22% of Lincoln National worth $65,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 182.2% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Lincoln National from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.82.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LNC traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $32.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,286,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,640,417. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.76, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.42. Lincoln National Co. has a 12-month low of $27.58 and a 12-month high of $39.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.06.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. 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. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.56%. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.