Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Cuts Position in Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC decreased its holdings in Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 72.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 54,097 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln National by 6.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,903,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,717,000 after buying an additional 1,183,934 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,199,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $214,504,000 after buying an additional 40,676 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Lincoln National by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,952,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035,505 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Lincoln National by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,730,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157,599 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,879,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,805,000 after acquiring an additional 234,415 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LNC shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Lincoln National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Lincoln National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.46.

Lincoln National Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of LNC opened at $33.13 on Thursday. Lincoln National Corporation has a 52-week low of $27.58 and a 52-week high of $46.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.01. The stock has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 6.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.30.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 6.46% and a return on equity of 18.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.4%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.74, for a total value of $261,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 198,159 shares in the company, valued at $6,487,725.66. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder National Life Insuranc Lincoln purchased 2,254,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.09 per share, with a total value of $25,002,249.74. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 9,784,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,508,130.98. The trade was a 29.94% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,050 shares of company stock worth $734,041. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Profile

Lincoln National Corporation, doing business as Lincoln Financial Group, is a diversified financial services holding company focused on providing retirement, insurance, and wealth management solutions in the United States and select international markets. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, the company operates through several business segments, including Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance, and Group Protection. Its offerings are designed to help individuals, families, and institutions plan and prepare for their financial futures.

The Retirement Plan Services segment delivers recordkeeping, administrative services, and investment management for defined contribution and defined benefit plans.