Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,876,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 56,614 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.69% of Lincoln National worth $91,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 182.2% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LNC. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.91.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of LNC stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $31.96. 1,738,874 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,622,110. The company's 50-day moving average price is $33.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.01. The company has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Lincoln National Co. has a 12 month low of $25.80 and a 12 month high of $39.85.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.63%. 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.