John Christopher Kennedy Sells 3,519 Shares of Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Stock

Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 3,519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.15, for a total transaction of $155,363.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 118,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,253,187.75. The trade was a 2.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE:LNC opened at $45.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.33. Lincoln National Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.58 and a twelve month high of $46.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 18.77%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.06 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln National in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the third quarter worth $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the third quarter worth $39,000. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Lincoln National from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Lincoln National to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research cut shares of Lincoln National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, National Bankshares set a $44.00 target price on shares of Lincoln National in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.40.

Lincoln National Company Profile

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.