SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 52,746 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 69.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,625 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 52,746 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Lincoln National were worth $637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sweet Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth about $275,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,285 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 2,030 shares in the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 62,135 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,265 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 23,488 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 3,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 5,676 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Owen Ryan acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $259,000. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Lincoln National from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lincoln National from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.90.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE:LNC traded down $0.92 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $30.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,730,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,969,745. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $18.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.43. The firm's 50 day moving average is $27.99 and its 200-day moving average is $25.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.81.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.13. Lincoln National had a positive return on equity of 20.81% and a negative net margin of 6.46%. The business had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.86%. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio is presently -36.07%.

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.