GAMMA Investing LLC Buys Shares of 5,718 Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $157,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Merchants Corp purchased a new position in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $269,000. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,830,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,102,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,290,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 73.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 306,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,569,000 after acquiring an additional 130,047 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LNC opened at $27.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.81. Lincoln National Co. has a 12 month low of $18.50 and a 12 month high of $32.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.43.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Lincoln National had a positive return on equity of 20.81% and a negative net margin of 6.46%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.47%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -36.07%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln National

In related news, Director Owen Ryan purchased 10,000 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Lincoln National from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Lincoln National from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.45.

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.