AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 360,807 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,106,703 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 360,807 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.65% of Lincoln National worth $35,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 182.2% in the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of LNC traded up $0.09 on Tuesday, hitting $33.02. 2,269,628 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,616,108. Lincoln National Co. has a one year low of $27.58 and a one year high of $39.85. The company has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 1.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.01. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.45%. Lincoln National's payout ratio is 9.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $42.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.91.

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.