Brokerages Set Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) Price Target at $46.25

Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.25.

A number of research firms have weighed in on LNC. Zacks Research cut shares of Lincoln National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. National Bank Financial set a $45.00 target price on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th.

Lincoln National Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE:LNC opened at $34.03 on Wednesday. Lincoln National has a 1 year low of $27.58 and a 1 year high of $46.82. The stock has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.17.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.52% and a net margin of 6.46%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lincoln National will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is 33.90%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln National

In other news, major shareholder National Life Insuranc Lincoln purchased 2,300,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.87 per share, with a total value of $25,002,065.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,529,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,849,328.19. This represents a 43.98% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Waltman Reid sold 3,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.81, for a total transaction of $127,520.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 118,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,286.27. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,569 shares of company stock worth $627,484. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 6.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,903,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $802,717,000 after buying an additional 1,183,934 shares during the last quarter. Bain Capital Prairie LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $835,360,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Lincoln National by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,233,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,574,000 after acquiring an additional 502,600 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Lincoln National by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,199,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,504,000 after acquiring an additional 40,676 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,952,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,505 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln National Company Profile

Lincoln National Corporation, doing business as Lincoln Financial Group, is a diversified financial services holding company focused on providing retirement, insurance, and wealth management solutions in the United States and select international markets. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, the company operates through several business segments, including Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance, and Group Protection. Its offerings are designed to help individuals, families, and institutions plan and prepare for their financial futures.

The Retirement Plan Services segment delivers recordkeeping, administrative services, and investment management for defined contribution and defined benefit plans.