Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Shares Bought by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP raised its position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 262.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,630 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LNC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 166,167 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Lincoln National in the second quarter valued at approximately $142,148,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 7.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 223,129 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 14.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,828,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,970,000 after purchasing an additional 348,601 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 1.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,249,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,966,000 after purchasing an additional 31,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of LNC stock opened at $34.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.24 and a 200-day moving average of $31.54. Lincoln National Co. has a one year low of $23.14 and a one year high of $36.98.

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

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.15%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 128.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LNC has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln National in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.