WINTON GROUP Ltd Takes $887,000 Position in Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 21,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $887,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln National during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Lincoln National during the third quarter worth about $39,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 372.1% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. lifted its position in Lincoln National by 37.2% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on LNC. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Lincoln National from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised Lincoln National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $41.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays decreased their price target on Lincoln National from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Lincoln National from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.46.

Lincoln National Price Performance

NYSE:LNC traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.78. 178,762 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,230,707. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of 6.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.95. Lincoln National Corporation has a 1 year low of $27.58 and a 1 year high of $46.82.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $4.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 6.46% and a return on equity of 18.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In related news, major shareholder National Life Insuranc Lincoln acquired 2,254,486 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.09 per share, for a total transaction of $25,002,249.74. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Waltman Reid sold 3,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.81, for a total value of $127,520.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 118,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,286.27. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,050 shares of company stock worth $734,041. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.