9,700 Shares in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) Purchased by Alps Advisors Inc.

Alps Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $76,951,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Lincoln National by 301.2% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 1,142,759 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,543,624 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,948,000 after buying an additional 708,584 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Lincoln National by 1,818.4% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 661,972 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,771,000 after buying an additional 627,466 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Lincoln National by 190.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 741,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $23,508,000 after acquiring an additional 486,478 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

LNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lincoln National from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.78.

Lincoln National Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:LNC traded up $0.06 on Friday, reaching $34.54. 1,589,312 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,686,746. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $33.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.39. Lincoln National Corporation has a 52 week low of $27.58 and a 52 week high of $39.85.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 7.00%. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Lincoln National's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.21%. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.57%.

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.