GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln National by 7.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,281,000 after acquiring an additional 223,129 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln National by 89.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 95,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,149,000 after acquiring an additional 45,086 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the 3rd quarter valued at $535,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,373,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,322,000 after purchasing an additional 152,622 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $103,068.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,587,184. This represents a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $31.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Lincoln National Co. has a 1-year low of $25.09 and a 1-year high of $36.98. The company has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.64 and a 200-day moving average of $32.23.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.15%. Lincoln National’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.67%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on LNC. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.25.

Lincoln National 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.