Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 7,850 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 22.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,324 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,850 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,374,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in Lincoln National by 182.2% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE LNC traded up $1.33 during trading on Monday, hitting $34.68. 1,017,397 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,629,138. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.89, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.42. Lincoln National Co. has a 12-month low of $27.58 and a 12-month high of $39.85. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.39 and a 200-day moving average of $34.03.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. Lincoln National's revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.19%. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on LNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.27.

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.