Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Decreases Position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 36.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,729 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $82,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LNC. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 2,107.9% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,279,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,703,000 after acquiring an additional 4,085,637 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 53.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,157,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098,532 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 82.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,758,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,424,000 after acquiring an additional 792,900 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at $19,350,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Lincoln National by 2,549.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 719,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,413,000 after purchasing an additional 692,637 shares during the last quarter. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Lincoln National from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet downgraded Lincoln National from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Lincoln National from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Lincoln National from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.45.

Lincoln National Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $27.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.40. Lincoln National Co. has a twelve month low of $18.50 and a twelve month high of $32.43.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.13. Lincoln National had a positive return on equity of 20.81% and a negative net margin of 6.46%. The business had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently -36.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln National

In other news, Director Owen Ryan purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.90 per share, with a total value of $259,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $259,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.