Millennium Management LLC Purchases 792,907 Shares of Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Lincoln National Corporation by 206.6% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.69% of the company valued at $42.25 million.
• Lincoln National recently reported earnings of $2.36 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.91, despite revenue falling short of estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, with an annualized yield of 4.3% and a dividend payout ratio of 31.41%.

Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 206.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,176,613 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 792,907 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.69% of Lincoln National worth $42,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its position in Lincoln National by 383.2% during the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 749 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the first quarter valued at $33,000. 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 purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the first quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management boosted its position in Lincoln National by 18.1% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln National

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total transaction of $196,450.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 123,815 shares in the company, valued at $4,864,691.35. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $42.16. 1,399,610 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,578,492. Lincoln National Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.58 and a 1-year high of $43.66. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.36, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.48. The company's 50-day moving average price is $38.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.37.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.45. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 19.14% and a net margin of 6.34%.The firm had revenue of $4.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Lincoln National's payout ratio is currently 31.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cfra Research raised Lincoln National to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.70.

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.