Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes $1.05 Million Position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 33,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,050,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LNC. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,227,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,244,000 after acquiring an additional 79,955 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 4.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,763,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $150,104,000 after acquiring an additional 193,025 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 4.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,373,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,322,000 after acquiring an additional 152,622 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 7.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,281,000 after acquiring an additional 223,129 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 9.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,355,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,206,000 after acquiring an additional 207,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on LNC shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Evercore ISI raised 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.40.

Lincoln National Price Performance

NYSE LNC opened at $35.60 on Friday. Lincoln National Co. has a one year low of $25.80 and a one year high of $39.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $34.89 and a 200 day moving average of $33.40. The company has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.94, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 18.47% and a net margin of 17.76%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.06%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is 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.