M Holdings Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth about $915,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,119,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 47.0% in the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 19,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 6,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sciencast Management LP lifted its position in Lincoln National by 92.8% in the 4th quarter. Sciencast Management LP now owns 71,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,256,000 after acquiring an additional 34,236 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. TD Cowen boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.40.

Lincoln National Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE:LNC opened at $36.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.97, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.73. Lincoln National Co. has a one year low of $25.80 and a one year high of $39.85.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors 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 yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.79%.

Lincoln National Company 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.