Duality Advisers LP Invests $815,000 in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 30,204 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $815,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 3,930.8% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 115.2% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,752 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln National

In other news, Director Owen Ryan bought 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $259,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on LNC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.45.

Lincoln National Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE LNC traded down $0.69 on Thursday, reaching $27.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,284,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,879,824. The company's fifty day moving average is $28.41 and its 200-day moving average is $26.40. Lincoln National Co. has a 1-year low of $18.50 and a 1-year high of $32.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.81.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.13. Lincoln National had a negative net margin of 6.46% and a positive return on equity of 20.81%. The company had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.44%. Lincoln National's dividend payout ratio is -36.07%.

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.