Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 7,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 3,930.8% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the first quarter worth $30,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln National during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 115.2% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LNC. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. TheStreet cut shares of Lincoln National from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln National news, Director Owen Ryan purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lincoln National Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE LNC opened at $27.30 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.22. Lincoln National Co. has a 52-week low of $18.50 and a 52-week high of $32.43. The firm has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.13. Lincoln National had a negative net margin of 6.46% and a positive return on equity of 20.81%. The business had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Equities analysts predict that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. Lincoln National’s payout ratio is presently -36.07%.

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.