Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Shares Sold by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. cut its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 364 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 95.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lincoln National by 121.7% during the 4th quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 2,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,275 shares during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.40.

Lincoln National Trading Up 0.9 %

Lincoln National stock opened at $37.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. Lincoln National Co. has a 1 year low of $25.80 and a 1 year high of $39.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.07 and its 200-day moving average is $33.85. The company has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.05, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is currently 9.79%.

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.