Legal & General Group Plc Has $16.51 Million Stock Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 520,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 48,890 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $16,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its stake in Lincoln National by 182.2% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Lincoln National by 30.4% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LNC shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.91.

Lincoln National Trading Up 1.6 %

LNC opened at $29.97 on Tuesday. Lincoln National Co. has a twelve month low of $25.80 and a twelve month high of $39.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.78 and a 200-day moving average of $34.09. The stock has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of 1.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 9.79%.

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.