New Century Financial Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC)

New Century Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 74.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 31,989 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC's holdings in Lincoln National were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 330,755 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,488,000 after purchasing an additional 41,533 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Lincoln National by 20,127.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 316,965 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,051,000 after buying an additional 315,398 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,050,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 92.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 119,294 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,747,000 after acquiring an additional 57,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Group boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 462.6% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 59,555 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 48,969 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total value of $1,429,929.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 154,102 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,051,463.56. The trade was a 22.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 value of $333,482.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 48,743 shares in the company, valued at $1,613,393.30. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LNC shares. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lincoln National from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.82.

Lincoln National Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE LNC traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $32.85. 2,555,756 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,633,732. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.67, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.80. Lincoln National Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.58 and a twelve month high of $39.85.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.00%. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 5.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.57%.

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.