Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Price Target Raised to $39.00

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on LNC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Lincoln National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays upped their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.40.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of LNC stock opened at $39.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.69. Lincoln National has a 12-month low of $25.60 and a 12-month high of $39.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln National

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LNC. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 7.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 535.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 2.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 159,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 4.0% during the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 8,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

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.