Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 21,192 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 164,071 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 21,192 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.10% of Lincoln National worth $5,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 7.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,922 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 535.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 2.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 159,899 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,038,000 after buying an additional 4,005 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 4,737.9% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 98,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,116,000 after buying an additional 96,843 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 11.1% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,705,000 after buying an additional 5,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Lincoln National Trading Up 2.7 %

LNC traded up $1.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $39.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,609,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,592,412. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $34.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.12, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.79. Lincoln National Co. has a 12-month low of $25.60 and a 12-month high of $39.85.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.40.

About Lincoln National

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.