State of Alaska Department of Revenue Reduces Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 314 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned about 0.06% of Lincoln National worth $3,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LNC. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth $54,189,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln National by 3,488.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 966,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,669,000 after acquiring an additional 939,447 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Lincoln National by 167.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 600,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,913,000 after acquiring an additional 375,989 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln National by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,281,000 after purchasing an additional 223,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 9.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,355,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,206,000 after purchasing an additional 207,800 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln National Trading Up 3.5 %

LNC stock opened at $37.01 on Monday. Lincoln National Co. has a 52-week low of $25.09 and a 52-week high of $37.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.01, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.79. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.49.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is presently 9.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on LNC. StockNews.com raised Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.60.

Lincoln National 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.