Grimes & Company Inc. Purchases New Position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Grimes & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Security Financial Services INC. boosted its stake in Lincoln National by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 8,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Lincoln National by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in Lincoln National by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 91,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,477,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in Lincoln National by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 76,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the period. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Lincoln National by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 13,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln National Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE LNC traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.10. 3,224,430 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,430,472. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a PE ratio of 4.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 1.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.80. Lincoln National Co. has a 52 week low of $20.85 and a 52 week high of $33.33.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 19.50% and a net margin of 11.31%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.79%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LNC. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 55,127 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.57, for a total value of $1,795,486.39. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,457,165.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.