Holderness Investments Co. Has $486,000 Position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Holderness Investments Co. lessened its position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 395 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln National by 95.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 20.2% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective 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 target on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.40.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

NYSE:LNC opened at $36.62 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. The firm has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of 1.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.80 and a fifty-two week high of $39.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.69.

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

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National’s dividend 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.