Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) Holdings Boosted by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,854,788 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 97,600 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 2.84% of Lincoln National worth $174,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LNC. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth $249,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth about $1,050,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,155,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Lincoln National by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 45,690 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,449,000 after purchasing an additional 8,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 32,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 6,048 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln National news, EVP Sean Woodroffe sold 43,622 shares of Lincoln National stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.78, for a total value of $1,429,929.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 154,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,051,463.56. The trade was a 22.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Kroll sold 10,075 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.10, for a total value of $333,482.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 48,743 shares in the company, valued at $1,613,393.30. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Lincoln National from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.78.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of LNC stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $34.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,589,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,689,876. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 4.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.01. Lincoln National Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.58 and a twelve month high of $39.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.25 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Lincoln National had a net margin of 7.00% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Lincoln National's revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln National Corporation will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.57%.

About Lincoln National

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.