Renaissance Technologies LLC Decreases Holdings in Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Renaissance Technologies LLC decreased its position in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 264,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,000 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Lincoln National worth $8,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln National by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 6,610 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln National by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Lincoln National by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,104 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln National from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Lincoln National from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Lincoln National from $36.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Lincoln National from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Lincoln National from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.91.

Lincoln National Price Performance

LNC stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $30.25. 1,555,903 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,618,680. Lincoln National Co. has a 52-week low of $25.80 and a 52-week high of $39.85. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.07.

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

Lincoln National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Lincoln National's payout ratio is 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.