First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires 5,710 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 62.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,710 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LNC. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln National by 3,930.8% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 115.2% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 47.0% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $28.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $28.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.80. Lincoln National Co. has a 52-week low of $18.50 and a 52-week high of $32.43.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.13. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 19.50% and a net margin of 11.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.25 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 24.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Owen Ryan acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.90 per share, with a total value of $259,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.