Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Shares Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 699,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 117,983 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.41% of Lincoln National worth $18,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LNC. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 4.2% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 145,591 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,595,000 after acquiring an additional 5,898 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 7.8% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 70,926 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 5,125 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 24.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,468,971 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,269,000 after buying an additional 289,733 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Lincoln National by 18.9% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 219,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,410,000 after buying an additional 34,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 12.4% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 32,130 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 3,549 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. TheStreet cut Lincoln National from a "c" rating to a "d+" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.18.

Lincoln National Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Lincoln National stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $29.31. 971,011 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,886,980. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $28.61 and a 200-day moving average of $26.72. The company has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 3.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.80. Lincoln National Co. has a 12 month low of $18.74 and a 12 month high of $32.43.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.44 billion. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 19.50% and a net margin of 11.31%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Lincoln National's payout ratio is 24.62%.

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.