Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $8.16 Million in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 257,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,155,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.15% of Lincoln National as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LNC. M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln National in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Lincoln National during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 182.2% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,250 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln National by 30.4% in 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 during the period. 72.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on LNC. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $42.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.91.

Lincoln National Stock Up 3.4 %

LNC stock opened at $30.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.03. Lincoln National Co. has a 12 month low of $25.80 and a 12 month high of $39.85.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 research analysts anticipate that Lincoln National Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.94%. Lincoln National's payout ratio is presently 9.79%.

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.

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