Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Stock Price

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $29.00 to $28.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on LNC. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.40.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.1 %

Lincoln National stock opened at $32.66 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.31 and a 200-day moving average of $32.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Lincoln National has a twelve month low of $25.09 and a twelve month high of $36.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.78.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.42. Lincoln National had a net margin of 2.51% and a return on equity of 18.15%. The firm had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National will post 6.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.51%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 128.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln National news, EVP John Christopher Kennedy sold 2,863 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $103,068.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,587,184. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln National

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LNC. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln National by 535.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 95.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln National by 459.9% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Company 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.