Westend Capital Management LLC Purchases 1,275 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 121.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,275 shares during the period. Westend Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $74,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Lincoln National by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,227,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,244,000 after acquiring an additional 79,955 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,763,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $150,104,000 after purchasing an additional 193,025 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 4.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,373,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,322,000 after purchasing an additional 152,622 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 7.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,281,000 after buying an additional 223,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 14.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,828,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,970,000 after buying an additional 348,601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on LNC. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Lincoln National Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $33.14 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.23. Lincoln National Co. has a 52 week low of $25.09 and a 52 week high of $36.98. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.78. 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 (NYSE:LNC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. Lincoln National’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.98 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 dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is 128.57%.

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.