Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 383.2% during the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 82.9% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 354.2% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.29, for a total transaction of $196,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 123,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,864,691.35. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Lincoln National in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Lincoln National to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Lincoln National to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $43.09.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $39.57 on Thursday. Lincoln National Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $27.58 and a fifty-two week high of $43.66. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.95. The company has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.45. Lincoln National had a net margin of 6.34% and a return on equity of 19.14%. The business had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Lincoln National Corporation 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 Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.41%.

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.