Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $2.06 Million Stock Holdings in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in Lincoln National Corporation by 14.3%, holding 57,456 shares worth approximately $2.06 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Lincoln National's recent quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $2.36, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.91, while the company generated $4.04 billion in revenue, falling short of the forecast of $4.65 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, leading to an annualized dividend yield of 4.7%, with a payout ratio of 31.41%.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 14.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,456 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,613 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Lincoln National were worth $2,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its position in Lincoln National by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 7,329 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 7,154 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 0.6% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 11,720 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 154,102 shares in the company, valued at $5,051,463.56. This trade represents a 22.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.10, for a total value of $333,482.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 48,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 58,697 shares of company stock worth $1,959,862 in the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cfra Research raised Lincoln National to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays increased their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a "positive" rating on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.22.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of LNC stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.10. The stock had a trading volume of 807,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,977,022. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $34.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Lincoln National Corporation has a one year low of $27.58 and a one year high of $40.57. The firm has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 7.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.42.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 19.14% and a net margin of 6.34%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.41%.

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.