Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) Position Reduced by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,851,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 270,394 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.04% of Lincoln National worth $676,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Lincoln National by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,854,788 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $174,335,000 after purchasing an additional 97,600 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Lincoln National by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,876,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $91,208,000 after purchasing an additional 56,614 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Lincoln National by 301.2% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,522,195 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,269,000 after buying an additional 1,142,759 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 53.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,258,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,907,000 after acquiring an additional 436,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,118,235 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,459,000 after acquiring an additional 49,496 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln National Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE LNC traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.52. 1,620,939 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,285,030. Lincoln National Corporation has a 52-week low of $27.58 and a 52-week high of $41.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a PE ratio of 7.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The business's fifty day moving average price is $35.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.69.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.36 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates 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 previous year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total value of $196,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 123,815 shares in the company, valued at $4,864,691.35. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 48,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,613,393.30. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LNC shares. Cfra Research raised shares of Lincoln National to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "positive" rating on shares of Lincoln National in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.