Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 30,208 Shares of Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 14.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 236,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,208 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $8,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LNC. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln National in the first quarter worth about $241,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,585,000 after purchasing an additional 16,991 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 316.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 59,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 44,936 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 5.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 623,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,383,000 after purchasing an additional 29,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 39.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 19,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 5,486 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on LNC shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Lincoln National from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays upgraded Lincoln National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. National Bank Financial set a $51.00 price objective on Lincoln National in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Lincoln National from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Craigt T. Beazer sold 30,000 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total transaction of $1,033,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 103,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,579,561.70. The trade was a 22.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.9%

LNC opened at $42.26 on Friday. Lincoln National Corporation has a 12 month low of $32.18 and a 12 month high of $46.82. The company has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a PE ratio of 4.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.73 and a 200 day moving average of $37.63.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $4.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.93 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 18.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.88%.

Lincoln National Company 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.