Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 39.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,540 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $2,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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. Bain Capital Prairie LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $835,360,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,233,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,574,000 after purchasing an additional 502,600 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,199,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,504,000 after purchasing an additional 40,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,879,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,805,000 after purchasing an additional 234,415 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Lincoln National from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lincoln National from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $37.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. Lincoln National Corporation has a 52-week low of $31.69 and a 52-week high of $46.82. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $35.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.17.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $4.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.93 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 18.07%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.72 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is presently 20.88%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

In other news, EVP Craigt T. Beazer sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total transaction of $1,033,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 103,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,579,561.70. This represents a 22.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.03% of the company’s stock.

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.