LPL Financial LLC Has $4.53 Million Stock Position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,044 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Lakeland Financial worth $4,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LKFN. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $378,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 32,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,258,000 after buying an additional 5,349 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 126,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,725,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 50,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 187.6% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 7,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 5,017 shares during the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $36,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,527.50. This represents a 9.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total transaction of $92,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $384,709.34. The trade was a 19.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 4.9 %

LKFN stock opened at $55.61 on Thursday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $51.41 and a 12-month high of $78.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.75.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. On average, research analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 55.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, January 27th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Friday, March 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 target price for the company.

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.