Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Purchased by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 40,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $2,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 78.9% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 47.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 45.3% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $59.28 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 0.67. Lakeland Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $43.05 and a twelve month high of $73.22.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $65.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.81 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 23.85%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 52.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKFN has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens upped their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $60.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In other news, CEO David M. Findlay sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total transaction of $783,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $925,060.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO David M. Findlay sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total value of $783,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $925,060.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael L. Kubacki sold 26,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $1,902,166.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,846,098. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,728 shares of company stock worth $3,670,449. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

Lakeland Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Lake City Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest bearing, interest-bearing checking, savings, money market, NOW, and demand deposits.