Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) Shares Bought by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 25.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,843 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,445 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Lincoln National were worth $2,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Lincoln National by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,854,788 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $174,335,000 after buying an additional 97,600 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Lincoln National by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,876,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $91,208,000 after buying an additional 56,614 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,951,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 84.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 708,584 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 301.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,142,759 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln National Trading Up 0.3%

Lincoln National stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.83. 1,123,508 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,822,810. Lincoln National Corporation has a 52-week low of $27.58 and a 52-week high of $39.85. The company has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.95, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.25 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $33.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.11.

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. 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 18.71% and a net margin of 7.00%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.17%. Lincoln National's payout ratio is presently 25.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LNC. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays raised their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Lincoln National from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.78.

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.