Holocene Advisors LP Buys 77,143 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 127.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 137,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 77,143 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP owned 0.08% of Lincoln National worth $4,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LNC. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 2nd quarter worth about $142,148,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 59.2% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,086,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,896 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 3,488.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 966,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,669,000 after purchasing an additional 939,447 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 49.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,150,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,892,000 after purchasing an additional 711,951 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 167.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 600,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,913,000 after purchasing an additional 375,989 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Price Performance

LNC stock opened at $34.92 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.15. The stock has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.77. Lincoln National Co. has a 1 year low of $23.68 and a 1 year high of $36.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 128.57%.

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.