Schroder Investment Management Group Sells 12,171 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Schroder Investment Management Group decreased its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,171 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.06% of Lincoln National worth $3,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Lincoln National in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,118,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 96,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,055,000 after purchasing an additional 12,544 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Lincoln National by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 239,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,534,000 after purchasing an additional 28,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,227,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,244,000 after purchasing an additional 79,955 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.45.

Lincoln National Price Performance

LNC opened at $29.90 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 1.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.55. Lincoln National Co. has a 52 week low of $25.80 and a 52 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.02%. Lincoln National’s dividend 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.