Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,500 Shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC)

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln National Co. (NYSE:LNC) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln National were worth $728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LNC. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Lincoln National by 2,107.9% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,279,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,703,000 after purchasing an additional 4,085,637 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 53.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,157,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098,532 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 82.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,758,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,424,000 after acquiring an additional 792,900 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln National in the fourth quarter valued at $19,350,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln National by 2,549.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 719,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,413,000 after acquiring an additional 692,637 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Owen Ryan purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.90 per share, for a total transaction of $259,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LNC shares. TheStreet downgraded shares of Lincoln National from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Lincoln National from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lincoln National from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln National has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.45.

Lincoln National Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Lincoln National stock opened at $28.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. Lincoln National Co. has a 1 year low of $18.50 and a 1 year high of $32.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $28.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.49. The stock has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.61, a PEG ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.81.

Lincoln National (NYSE:LNC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Lincoln National Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Lincoln National’s dividend payout ratio is currently -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.