Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Given New $36.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $28.00 to $36.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

LNC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.10.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LNC opened at $39.11 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Lincoln National has a 52 week low of $25.60 and a 52 week high of $39.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.83.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 7.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,281,000 after purchasing an additional 223,129 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 10,560 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $1,075,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 4.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,373,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,322,000 after acquiring an additional 152,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth about $1,094,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

About Lincoln National

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.