Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Trims Stock Position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,757,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,515 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 2.79% of Lincoln National worth $150,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 30.4% during the 4th 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, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LNC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.45.

Lincoln National Stock Down 10.3 %

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $29.90 on Friday. 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 52-week low of $25.80 and a 52-week high of $39.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $36.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.55.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 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.