2,426,700 Shares in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,426,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $76,951,000. Norges Bank owned 1.42% of Lincoln National at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Easterly Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Lincoln National by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 641,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,336,000 after acquiring an additional 12,976 shares during the period. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,776,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 330,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,488,000 after purchasing an additional 41,533 shares during the period. Trust Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 39,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at $238,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.45.

Lincoln National Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE:LNC opened at $37.32 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.03, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.55. Lincoln National Co. has a 12 month low of $25.80 and a 12 month high of $39.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.