Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) Price Target Cut to $32.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $42.00 to $32.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 7.60% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of 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, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.36.

Lincoln National Stock Down 8.7 %

Shares of NYSE LNC traded down $2.82 during trading on Thursday, reaching $29.74. 1,508,391 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,597,702. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.10. The company has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. Lincoln National has a twelve month low of $25.80 and a twelve month high of $39.85. 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 (NYSE:LNC) last posted 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 net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln National will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln National during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.