Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Stock Price

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $45.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 33.84% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. National Bank Financial set a $45.00 price target on Lincoln National in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Lincoln National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.46.

Lincoln National Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE LNC traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.88. 537,072 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,218,259. The stock has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Lincoln National has a one year low of $27.58 and a one year high of $46.82. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.07.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.35. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.52% and a net margin of 6.46%.The firm had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Lincoln National will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.46, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 206,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,104,239.14. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Waltman Reid sold 3,050 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.81, for a total transaction of $127,520.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 118,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,286.27. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,050 shares of company stock worth $734,041. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Bain Capital Prairie LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at $835,360,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the second quarter worth about $87,362,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Lincoln National by 58.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,681,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $163,922,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,835 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln National by 6.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,903,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,717,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,730,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157,599 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln National Company Profile

Lincoln National Corporation, doing business as Lincoln Financial Group, is a diversified financial services holding company focused on providing retirement, insurance, and wealth management solutions in the United States and select international markets. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, the company operates through several business segments, including Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance, and Group Protection. Its offerings are designed to help individuals, families, and institutions plan and prepare for their financial futures.

The Retirement Plan Services segment delivers recordkeeping, administrative services, and investment management for defined contribution and defined benefit plans.