BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 95.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the third quarter worth $48,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LNC shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.40.

Lincoln National Stock Up 2.8 %

LNC stock opened at $37.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.61. Lincoln National Co. has a 52-week low of $25.80 and a 52-week high of $39.85.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.85%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.79%.

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.