Kennedy Capital Management LLC Purchases 12,175 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 154,876 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,175 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned 0.09% of Lincoln National worth $4,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its position in 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 valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LNC. UBS Group raised 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.91.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:LNC traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $30.25. The stock had a trading volume of 1,555,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,620,361. 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 stock has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.65, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. The business's 50 day moving average is $35.37 and its 200 day moving average is $34.03. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.80 and a fifty-two week high of $39.85.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.95%. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.79%.

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.