Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Increases Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC boosted its position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,911 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LNC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 141.2% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 673,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,171,000 after purchasing an additional 394,028 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the 1st quarter worth about $293,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 1,818.4% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 661,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,771,000 after buying an additional 627,466 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 2,142 shares during the period. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 1,370.7% in the 1st quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 150,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,394,000 after buying an additional 139,988 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.10, for a total transaction of $333,482.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,613,393.30. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total transaction of $1,429,929.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 154,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,051,463.56. This trade represents a 22.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.82.

Lincoln National Trading Down 0.8%

LNC stock opened at $33.07 on Thursday. Lincoln National Co. has a 12-month low of $27.58 and a 12-month high of $39.85. The business’s 50-day moving average is $32.31 and its 200 day moving average is $33.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.80, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.40.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 25.57%.

About Lincoln National

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.