Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its position in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 85.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,105 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 277,703 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can's holdings in Lincoln National were worth $1,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LNC. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Lincoln National by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,460 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its holdings in Lincoln National by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 6,610 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Lincoln National by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Lincoln National by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,104 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $42.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln National presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.91.

Lincoln National Price Performance

LNC traded up $1.40 on Wednesday, hitting $31.73. 260,548 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,002,569. Lincoln National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.80 and a fifty-two week high of $39.85. The stock has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.04. Lincoln National had a net margin of 17.76% and a return on equity of 18.47%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National's 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.