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

Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 203,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,384 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP owned about 0.12% of Lincoln National worth $6,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its position in shares of Lincoln National by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 8,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Lincoln National by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 26,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 4.4% in the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 10,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln National Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $35.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Lincoln National Co. has a 12-month low of $23.40 and a 12-month high of $36.98. The company has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.00.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $103,068.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 99,644 shares in the company, valued at $3,587,184. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LNC. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.25.

Lincoln National Company 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.