Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Price Target Lowered to $40.00 at Morgan Stanley

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $43.00 to $40.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 12.03% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on LNC. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Lincoln National in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. National Bank Financial set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lincoln National from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.57.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.6%

LNC stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $35.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 130,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,127,305. The company has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of 4.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.27 and its 200-day moving average is $39.20. Lincoln National has a 12 month low of $31.61 and a 12 month high of $46.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $4.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.93 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.17%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.74, for a total value of $261,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 198,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,487,725.66. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder National Life Insuranc Lincoln bought 2,254,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $11.09 per share, with a total value of $25,002,249.74. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 9,784,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,508,130.98. This represents a 29.94% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bain Capital Prairie LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth $835,360,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth about $101,114,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,755,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $275,304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522,179 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Lincoln National by 58.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,681,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $163,922,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 6.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,903,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $802,717,000 after buying an additional 1,183,934 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln National Company Profile

Lincoln National Corporation, doing business as Lincoln Financial Group, is a diversified financial services holding company focused on providing retirement, insurance, and wealth management solutions in the United States and select international markets. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, the company operates through several business segments, including Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance, and Group Protection. Its offerings are designed to help individuals, families, and institutions plan and prepare for their financial futures.

The Retirement Plan Services segment delivers recordkeeping, administrative services, and investment management for defined contribution and defined benefit plans.