Lincoln National Corporation $LNC Position Lowered by Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P.

Key Points

• Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. reduced its stake in Lincoln National Corporation by 49.4%, now holding 24,553 shares worth approximately $882,000 after selling 23,997 shares.
• In the first quarter, other institutional investors, including Millennium Management LLC and AQR Capital Management LLC, significantly increased their holdings in Lincoln National, with increases of 206.6% and 84.5% respectively.
• Lincoln National Corporation's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $2.36 EPS against a consensus of $1.91, despite revenue falling short at $4.04 billion compared to the expected $4.65 billion.

Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 49.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,553 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,997 shares during the quarter. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P.'s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Petrus Trust Company LTA increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 16,124 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $579,000 after buying an additional 1,829 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 206.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,176,613 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,252,000 after buying an additional 792,907 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,981 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,585,000 after buying an additional 16,991 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 84.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,041,928 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,039,000 after buying an additional 935,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,093 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 1,554 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Lincoln National Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE LNC traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $42.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,089,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,943,503. Lincoln National Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $27.58 and a fifty-two week high of $43.66. The company has a market capitalization of $8.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The firm's 50 day moving average is $38.27 and its 200 day moving average is $35.30.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.45. The firm 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total transaction of $196,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 123,815 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Cfra Research upgraded Lincoln National to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "positive" rating on shares of Lincoln National in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.70.

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.