BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 3,095 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,095 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKFN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,940,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,419,000 after purchasing an additional 100,001 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,066,000 after acquiring an additional 43,312 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 807,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,526,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 764,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,545,000 after buying an additional 18,247 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $23,111,000. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on LKFN. Hovde Group raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN opened at $58.64 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $50.00 and a 1-year high of $78.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.03.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $90.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.54 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This represents a 19.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director M Scott Welch bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $61.40 per share, with a total value of $307,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,394,600. This represents 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.

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.