Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Invests $19.35 Million in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 717,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,350,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.42% of Lincoln National as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Achmea Investment Management B.V. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln National by 3,930.8% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Lincoln National by 65.6% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Lincoln National by 704.7% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In related news, Director Owen Ryan acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.55% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Price Performance

NYSE:LNC opened at $32.08 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.55 and a 200-day moving average of $25.71. Lincoln National Co. has a 52 week low of $18.50 and a 52 week high of $32.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative net margin of 6.46% and a positive return on equity of 20.81%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.61%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is presently -36.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LNC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Lincoln National from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Lincoln National from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.60.

Lincoln National Company 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.