Swiss National Bank Purchases 2,800 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 334,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.20% of Lincoln National worth $10,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 95.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln National during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.40.

Lincoln National Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $36.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of 1.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76. Lincoln National Co. has a 52-week low of $25.80 and a 52-week high of $39.85. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. 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.