Renaissance Technologies LLC Reduces Stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lessened its stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 264,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,000 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $8,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LNC. M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its position in Lincoln National by 182.2% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln National by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of 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. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.91.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.7 %

LNC stock opened at $30.25 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $35.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.65, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.80 and a fifty-two week high of $39.85. 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 (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 5.95%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is currently 9.79%.

Lincoln National Company 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.