Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Shares Acquired by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 190.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,684 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $1,050,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 164,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,203,000 after acquiring an additional 21,192 shares during the period. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $666,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 30.2% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 34,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,107,000 after acquiring an additional 8,100 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.40.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE LNC opened at $39.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 2.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.23. Lincoln National Co. has a 1-year low of $25.60 and a 1-year high of $39.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.62%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 9.79%.

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.