New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 600 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 223,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.13% of Lincoln National worth $7,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Lincoln National by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,227,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,244,000 after acquiring an additional 79,955 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Lincoln National by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,763,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $150,104,000 after acquiring an additional 193,025 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,373,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,322,000 after buying an additional 152,622 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,281,000 after buying an additional 223,129 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,355,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,206,000 after buying an additional 207,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:LNC opened at $39.11 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $33.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.83. Lincoln National Co. has a 1 year low of $25.60 and a 1 year high of $39.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. As a group, analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on LNC. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their target price on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.10.

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.