Jennison Associates LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 3.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,823,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 141,994 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $135,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of LNC. Bain Capital Prairie LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $835,360,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Lincoln National by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,233,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,574,000 after buying an additional 502,600 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Lincoln National by 0.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,199,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,504,000 after buying an additional 40,676 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,959,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,801,000 after buying an additional 14,842 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $101,114,000. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Lincoln National from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Barclays raised Lincoln National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. National Bank Financial set a $51.00 target price on Lincoln National in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.79.

Lincoln National Price Performance

NYSE LNC opened at $42.26 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Lincoln National Corporation has a 12-month low of $32.18 and a 12-month high of $46.82.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $4.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.93 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.17%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. Analysts forecast that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Craigt T. Beazer sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total value of $1,033,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 103,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,579,561.70. This trade represents a 22.40% 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. Company insiders own 1.03% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Company Profile

Lincoln National Corporation, doing business as Lincoln Financial Group, is a diversified financial services holding company focused on providing retirement, insurance, and wealth management solutions in the United States and select international markets. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, the company operates through several business segments, including Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance, and Group Protection. Its offerings are designed to help individuals, families, and institutions plan and prepare for their financial futures.

The Retirement Plan Services segment delivers recordkeeping, administrative services, and investment management for defined contribution and defined benefit plans.