Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Has $750,000 Stock Position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LKFN. CKW Financial Group acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $148,000. Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $203,000. Revisor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $212,000. Personal CFO Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 2,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total value of $161,715.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,735.90. 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 Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total transaction of $783,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $925,060.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 2,560 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total transaction of $161,715.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,735.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,728 shares of company stock valued at $3,670,449. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LKFN shares. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $60.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th.

Lakeland Financial Trading Down 0.4 %

LKFN opened at $62.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $43.05 and a 1-year high of $73.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.55.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $65.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.81 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.85% and a return on equity of 14.89%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.60%.

About Lakeland Financial

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.