State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Cuts Stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 39,661 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Lincoln National in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 106.7% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Adirondack Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of LNC opened at $31.93 on Friday. Lincoln National Co. has a one year low of $20.85 and a one year high of $36.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a PE ratio of 4.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.81.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 12.24%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.64%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 24.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on LNC shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Lincoln National in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln National presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.64.

Lincoln National 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.