316,870 Shares in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Acquired by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC bought a new position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 316,870 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,379,000. Vest Financial LLC owned about 0.19% of Lincoln National as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,951,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Lincoln National by 301.2% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,522,195 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,269,000 after buying an additional 1,142,759 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Lincoln National by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,543,624 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,948,000 after buying an additional 708,584 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Lincoln National by 190.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 741,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,508,000 after buying an additional 486,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 53.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,258,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,907,000 after purchasing an additional 436,462 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.82.

Lincoln National Stock Up 1.9%

LNC opened at $33.44 on Friday. Lincoln National Co. has a 1-year low of $27.58 and a 1-year 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $32.32 and a 200-day moving average of $33.91.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.71 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. Lincoln National's revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.38%. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total transaction of $1,429,929.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 154,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,051,463.56. This trade represents a 22.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.10, for a total value of $333,482.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,613,393.30. This trade represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

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.

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