Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 223,129 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.94% of Lincoln National worth $104,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ellis Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the second quarter valued at $1,095,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Lincoln National by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 40,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,548,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Lincoln National by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 198,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,175,000 after acquiring an additional 62,929 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 374,076 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,634,000 after purchasing an additional 26,322 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of Lincoln National 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 99,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,587,184. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price target 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. Barclays increased their price target 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. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln National presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.25.

Lincoln National Price Performance

LNC stock traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.00. 3,666,067 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,606,379. 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 stock has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.77. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.09 and a fifty-two week high of $36.98. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $33.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.21.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.42. Lincoln National had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.81%. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

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.