Wedmont Private Capital Buys 1,032 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 11.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 6,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total value of $1,429,929.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 154,102 shares in the company, valued at $5,051,463.56. This trade represents a 22.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.10, for a total value of $333,482.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,743 shares in the company, valued at $1,613,393.30. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $33.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. Lincoln National Co. has a 52 week low of $27.58 and a 52 week high of $39.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 1.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.40.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. 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 firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.40%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LNC. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group increased their price target on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.82.

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.