Prudential PLC Buys Shares of 20,900 Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 20,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $931,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $101,114,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Lincoln National by 58.7% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,681,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $163,922,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,835 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln National by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,903,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,934 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Lincoln National by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,730,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,831,000. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Lincoln National from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Lincoln National from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.00.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of LNC opened at $34.75 on Monday. Lincoln National Corporation has a 52 week low of $31.69 and a 52 week high of $46.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.03, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.71.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.17%.The firm had revenue of $4.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.72 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.88%.

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.