Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 223,129 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.94% of Lincoln National worth $104,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LNC. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the second quarter worth approximately $142,148,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Lincoln National by 3,488.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 966,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,669,000 after acquiring an additional 939,447 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lincoln National by 49.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,150,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,892,000 after acquiring an additional 711,951 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 167.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 600,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,913,000 after purchasing an additional 375,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 14.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,828,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,970,000 after purchasing an additional 348,601 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:LNC opened at $31.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.23. Lincoln National Co. has a 52 week low of $25.09 and a 52 week high of $36.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.77.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.42. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 2.51%. The company had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.81%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Lincoln National news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $103,068.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 99,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,587,184. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on LNC. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.