Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC lowered its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN – Get Rating) by 36.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,599 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.05% of Lakeland Financial worth $972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,807,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,953,000 after buying an additional 128,992 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,838,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,843,000 after purchasing an additional 35,326 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,308,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,484,000 after purchasing an additional 280,943 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 8.7% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,193,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,915,000 after buying an additional 95,906 shares during the period. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 559,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,855,000 after buying an additional 39,395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In related news, Director Emily E. Pichon purchased 1,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $47.80 per share, for a total transaction of $48,995.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 16,238 shares in the company, valued at $776,176.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Lakeland Financial news, Director M Scott Welch bought 16,715 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $64.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,072,100.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 168,756 shares in the company, valued at $10,824,009.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Emily E. Pichon acquired 1,025 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $47.80 per share, with a total value of $48,995.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,238 shares in the company, valued at $776,176.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 32,756 shares of company stock valued at $1,956,985 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $47.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of $56.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.55. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $43.05 and a 52-week high of $83.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.14). Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 33.46% and a return on equity of 18.55%. The firm had revenue of $89.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 25th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 24th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $74.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. StockNews.com started coverage on Lakeland Financial in a report on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

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Lakeland Financial Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of banking products and services. It offers commercial and consumer banking, trust and wealth management, brokerage, and treasury management commercial services. The company was founded on February 8, 1983 and is headquartered in Warsaw, IN.