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

Wells Fargo & Company MN reduced its position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 983,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,080 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.58% of Lincoln National worth $31,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LNC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $76,951,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $54,189,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,543,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,948,000 after purchasing an additional 708,584 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 190.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 741,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,508,000 after purchasing an additional 486,478 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 20,127.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 316,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,051,000 after purchasing an additional 315,398 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted 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 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.91.

Lincoln National Stock Down 9.9 %

NYSE LNC opened at $29.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $35.93 and its 200 day moving average is $34.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Lincoln National Co. has a 12 month low of $25.80 and a 12 month high of $39.85. The stock has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 1.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. Research analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

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