Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 17,000 Shares of Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 48.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,000 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LNC. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the second quarter worth $29,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Lincoln National by 82.9% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 3,927.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 354.2% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Owen Ryan acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $42.17 per share, for a total transaction of $84,340.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 12,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $506,040. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Trading Up 1.0%

LNC opened at $41.41 on Thursday. Lincoln National Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $27.58 and a fifty-two week high of $43.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of 7.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.24 and its 200 day moving average is $37.78.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 19.14% and a net margin of 6.34%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is 16.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Lincoln National to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. National Bankshares set a $44.00 target price on Lincoln National in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.40.

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.