UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Acquires 54,588 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 593,901 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 54,588 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Lincoln National worth $18,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,460 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 6,610 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Lincoln National by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,394 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,566,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays upped 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, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lincoln National from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Lincoln National Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LNC traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.13. 1,556,123 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,638,810. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.58 and a fifty-two week high of $39.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 1.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.98.

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

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio is 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.