Wall Street Zen Downgrades Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) to Sell

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.78.

Lincoln National Price Performance

LNC traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.70. The company had a trading volume of 2,309,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,317. 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 market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of 4.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.39. Lincoln National has a twelve month low of $27.58 and a twelve month high of $39.85. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $33.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.98.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. Lincoln National had a net margin of 7.00% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Lincoln National will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total value of $1,429,929.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 154,102 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,051,463.56. The trade was a 22.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 48,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,613,393.30. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in Lincoln National by 383.2% during the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 749 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln National during the first quarter worth $33,000. M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company's stock.

About Lincoln National

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.