Lincoln National Corporation $LNC Shares Sold by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC decreased its position in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 72.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 54,097 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Lincoln National by 6.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,903,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $802,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,934 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Lincoln National by 0.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,199,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,504,000 after purchasing an additional 40,676 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,952,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,505 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,730,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,121,000 after buying an additional 1,157,599 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,879,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,805,000 after buying an additional 234,415 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. National Bank Financial set a $45.00 price target on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Lincoln National from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Lincoln National from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder National Life Insuranc Lincoln purchased 2,254,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.09 per share, for a total transaction of $25,002,249.74. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 9,784,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,508,130.98. The trade was a 29.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James Waltman Reid sold 3,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.81, for a total transaction of $127,520.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 118,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,957,286.27. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,050 shares of company stock worth $734,041. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $33.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.24, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Lincoln National Corporation has a 12-month low of $27.58 and a 12-month high of $46.82. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.01.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.35. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.52% and a net margin of 6.46%.The firm had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. Lincoln National’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is currently 33.90%.

Lincoln National Profile

Lincoln National Corporation, doing business as Lincoln Financial Group, is a diversified financial services holding company focused on providing retirement, insurance, and wealth management solutions in the United States and select international markets. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, the company operates through several business segments, including Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance, and Group Protection. Its offerings are designed to help individuals, families, and institutions plan and prepare for their financial futures.

The Retirement Plan Services segment delivers recordkeeping, administrative services, and investment management for defined contribution and defined benefit plans.