Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 223,129 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.94% of Lincoln National worth $104,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lincoln National by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 48,708 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 5,300 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 1.6% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 26,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 225,881 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,025,000 after buying an additional 6,751 shares during the last quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 27,468 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $854,000 after buying an additional 4,385 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 1.4% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 31,235 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LNC has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised Lincoln National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Lincoln National from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.25.

Lincoln National Stock Up 1.0 %

LNC stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $31.00. 3,666,067 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,606,379. The firm has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.77. Lincoln National Co. has a twelve month low of $25.09 and a twelve month high of $36.98. The firm's 50 day moving average is $33.95 and its 200 day moving average is $32.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. The business's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 5.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $103,068.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,587,184. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

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.