Caxton Associates LP Buys New Shares in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Caxton Associates LP bought a new stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 65,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,083,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LNC. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln National by 249.4% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

In related news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 55,127 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.57, for a total transaction of $1,795,486.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,457,165.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.18.

Lincoln National Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:LNC traded up $0.36 on Tuesday, hitting $33.45. The company had a trading volume of 251,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,695,602. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.52. Lincoln National Co. has a 1 year low of $20.85 and a 1 year high of $33.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.84.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.27. Lincoln National had a net margin of 11.31% and a return on equity of 19.50%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.38%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.62%.

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.