AlphaQuest LLC Has $692,000 Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 188.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,256 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln National by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,309,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,281,000 after purchasing an additional 223,129 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lincoln National by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 10,560 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,075,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Lincoln National by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,373,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,322,000 after purchasing an additional 152,622 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,094,000. 72.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.40.

Lincoln National Stock Performance

Shares of LNC stock opened at $34.78 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.76. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $35.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.51. Lincoln National Co. has a 52 week low of $25.80 and a 52 week high of $39.85.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. On average, analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.17%. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.