Bridgewater Associates LP Purchases 65,384 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 47.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 203,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 65,384 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $6,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 4.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,763,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $150,104,000 after purchasing an additional 193,025 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,281,000 after buying an additional 223,129 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,828,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,970,000 after buying an additional 348,601 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 1.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,249,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,966,000 after buying an additional 31,235 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 49.5% during the second 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 last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $103,068.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,587,184. This represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lincoln National Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $35.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.79. Lincoln National Co. has a 52 week low of $23.40 and a 52 week high of $36.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.42. Lincoln National had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. Lincoln National’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.06%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on LNC. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.