Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,031,911 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 54,630 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.19% of Lincoln National worth $72,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 4.7% during the first quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 7,329 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 5.9% during the first quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 7,154 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 74,806 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 11,720 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total transaction of $196,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 123,815 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,864,691.35. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.10, for a total transaction of $333,482.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 48,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,613,393.30. This trade represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,697 shares of company stock valued at $1,959,862 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LNC traded down $0.46 on Friday, hitting $40.52. 1,620,939 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,285,030. Lincoln National Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.58 and a 1-year high of $41.09. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $35.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.42.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.45. Lincoln National had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 19.14%. The business had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "positive" rating on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Lincoln National to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.22.

Lincoln National Company 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.