Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 905 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 535.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $33,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in Lincoln National by 106.7% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. Adirondack Trust Co. acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Lincoln National by 249.4% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LNC shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays upped their price target on Lincoln National from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Lincoln National Price Performance

LNC opened at $33.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.94, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.68 and a 200 day moving average of $31.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $20.85 and a fifty-two week high of $36.46.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 5.73 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.37%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

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.