Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys 1,688 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,688 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $2,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the second quarter worth $142,148,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 59.2% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,086,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147,896 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Lincoln National by 3,488.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 966,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,669,000 after acquiring an additional 939,447 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 49.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 167.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 600,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,913,000 after purchasing an additional 375,989 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on Lincoln National from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.25.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE LNC opened at $32.46 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.25. Lincoln National Co. has a 1 year low of $25.09 and a 1 year high of $36.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.15%. Lincoln National’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

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.