Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 27,080 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lowered its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 983,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,080 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $31,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of LNC. M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Lincoln National by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Trading Down 9.9 %

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $29.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. Lincoln National Co. has a 1-year low of $25.80 and a 1-year high of $39.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.09.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.91.

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.