Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 6,515 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,757,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,515 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $150,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LNC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,951,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at $54,189,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Lincoln National by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,543,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,948,000 after buying an additional 708,584 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 190.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 741,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,508,000 after buying an additional 486,478 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 20,127.5% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 316,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,051,000 after acquiring an additional 315,398 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LNC opened at $29.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.12. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.80 and a fifty-two week high of $39.85.

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

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.02%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on LNC. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays upped their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.45.

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.