Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $990,000 Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 88.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,232 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,683 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Lincoln National were worth $990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Lincoln National by 3.2% in the fourth 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 boosted its stake 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 worth $355,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 6,610 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Lincoln National by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,104 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln National Price Performance

LNC stock traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $29.42. 249,532 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,613,385. 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 capitalization of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 1.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. Lincoln National Co. has a 52 week low of $25.80 and a 52 week high of $39.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.07.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.12%. Lincoln National's payout ratio is 9.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Lincoln National from $42.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.91.

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.