Sean Woodroffe Sells 11,000 Shares of Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Stock

Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total transaction of $498,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 119,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,431,200.16. This represents a 8.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln National stock traded up $0.48 on Tuesday, reaching $45.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,616,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,050,479. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.78. Lincoln National Corporation has a 52-week low of $32.18 and a 52-week high of $47.67. The company has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.91, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 17.35%. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.36 EPS. Analysts expect that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.85 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, October 12th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is 15.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln National

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LNC. Bain Capital Prairie LLC bought a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth approximately $835,360,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 24.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,755,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $275,304,000 after buying an additional 1,522,179 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Lincoln National by 0.7% during 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. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Lincoln National by 3.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,823,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,722,000 after buying an additional 141,994 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,959,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,801,000 after purchasing an additional 14,842 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on LNC shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lincoln National from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. National Bank Financial set a $51.00 price target on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.43.

About Lincoln National

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.