1,708,900 Shares in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Bought by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,708,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $54,189,000. Lincoln National makes up approximately 1.6% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LNC. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 9.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 3,821 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,797,000 after buying an additional 12,339 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 2nd quarter worth about $142,148,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,828,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,970,000 after acquiring an additional 348,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 25,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In related news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.40.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of LNC opened at $32.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. Lincoln National Co. has a 1 year low of $25.09 and a 1 year high of $36.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.22.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.61 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.98 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is currently 128.57%.

Lincoln National Profile

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.