Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 30,208 Shares of Lincoln National Corporation $LNC

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) by 14.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 236,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,208 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.12% of Lincoln National worth $8,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LNC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Lincoln National in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Craigt T. Beazer sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total value of $1,033,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 103,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,579,561.70. This represents a 22.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. National Bank Financial set a $51.00 target price on Lincoln National in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lincoln National from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.79.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:LNC opened at $42.26 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.73 and its 200 day moving average is $37.63. Lincoln National Corporation has a 12-month low of $32.18 and a 12-month high of $46.82. The stock has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.90, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.17%.The business had revenue of $4.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.60 EPS. Lincoln National’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 20.88%.

Lincoln National Company 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.