Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Stock Holdings Boosted by Easterly Investment Partners LLC

Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 641,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,976 shares during the period. Lincoln National makes up 1.6% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned 0.38% of Lincoln National worth $20,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $54,189,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Lincoln National by 190.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 741,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,508,000 after purchasing an additional 486,478 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,155,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 7.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,281,000 after buying an additional 223,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 9.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,355,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,206,000 after acquiring an additional 207,800 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LNC shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.40.

Lincoln National Stock Down 0.7 %

LNC opened at $37.41 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.87. Lincoln National Co. has a 52 week low of $25.80 and a 52 week high of $39.85. The firm has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.04, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76. 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 earnings per share 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 research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders 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 4.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.