Keynote Financial Services LLC Takes $1.14 Million Position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 35,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,135,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the first quarter valued at about $45,000. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 48.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 20,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 6,655 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 384.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 59,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,904,000 after purchasing an additional 47,312 shares in the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd increased its position in shares of Lincoln National by 122.5% during the first quarter. Algebris UK Ltd now owns 861,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,582,000 after purchasing an additional 474,171 shares during the period. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the first quarter valued at $615,000. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lincoln National

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 55,127 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.57, for a total transaction of $1,795,486.39. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,457,165.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lincoln National Price Performance

NYSE LNC traded down $4.03 on Friday, hitting $30.02. 4,210,155 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,314,085. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.84. Lincoln National Co. has a 1-year low of $20.85 and a 1-year high of $36.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.65.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.06. Lincoln National had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on LNC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.18.

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.