Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,686 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the third quarter worth $74,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ LKFN opened at $60.26 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 0.63. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $57.45 and a 52 week high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. Research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total value of $92,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $384,709.34. The trade was a 19.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director M Scott Welch acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,394,600. The trade was a 14.71 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LKFN. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Friday, March 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

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.