Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 91,197 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 825,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 91,197 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $26,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 249.4% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in Lincoln National by 3.3% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 202,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,480,000 after buying an additional 6,455 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 9.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 36,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,154,000 after buying an additional 3,097 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,854,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $697,825,000 after acquiring an additional 166,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,826,000. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,587,184. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Price Performance

LNC opened at $35.35 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.79. Lincoln National Co. has a 52 week low of $23.14 and a 52 week high of $36.98.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.15% and a net margin of 2.51%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is presently 128.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LNC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Lincoln National 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.