JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 41,533 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 330,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,533 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $10,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 4.7% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Lincoln National by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,281,000 after buying an additional 223,129 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,189,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 190.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 741,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,508,000 after buying an additional 486,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 531,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,841,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $29.97 on Tuesday. Lincoln National Co. has a 12 month low of $25.80 and a 12 month 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.63, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.09.

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

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on LNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays raised their target price on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.91.

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.