Westend Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 121.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,275 shares during the quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $74,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 535.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 95.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Lincoln National in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 459.9% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on LNC. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.40.

Lincoln National Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE:LNC opened at $33.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.78. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.09 and a fifty-two week high of $36.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.23.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.42. Lincoln National had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The company had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.43%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $103,068.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,587,184. This represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.