State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 39,661 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 38.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 1,032.2% during the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 105,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,853,000 after acquiring an additional 96,434 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 33.0% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 387,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,382,000 after purchasing an additional 96,200 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. bought a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at $2,263,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Lincoln National by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,854,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $697,825,000 after buying an additional 166,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestline Management LP raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 105,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,832,000 after buying an additional 45,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Lincoln National stock opened at $31.93 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.45. Lincoln National Co. has a 52 week low of $20.85 and a 52 week high of $36.46. The stock has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.37, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

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

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNC has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays began coverage on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln National has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.64.

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.