Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 843,657 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,763,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 843,657 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $86,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in Lincoln National during the second quarter valued at about $142,148,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,026,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 59.2% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,086,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,896 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln National by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,688,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $584,943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,789 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the first quarter worth $28,649,000. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays assumed coverage on Lincoln National in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.64.

Lincoln National Trading Up 5.3 %

LNC opened at $31.92 on Friday. Lincoln National Co. has a 1-year low of $20.85 and a 1-year high of $36.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a PE ratio of 4.37, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick 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. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 17.13%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

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

About Lincoln National

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.