US Bancorp DE Lowers Position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN)

US Bancorp DE trimmed its stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 11.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 288 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $130,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 40.5% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 809.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 60.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 16.4% during the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, CFO Lisa M. O’neill sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.72, for a total value of $166,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,292,899.52. This represents a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Melinda Jo Truex bought 8,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $60.11 per share, with a total value of $499,453.99. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 16,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $992,235.77. This trade represents a 101.35% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 1.0%

LKFN opened at $62.24 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $50.00 and a 52-week high of $78.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.31. The company has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96 and a beta of 0.63.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $63.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.02 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 22.55% and a return on equity of 13.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 25th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 54.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on LKFN. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $68.00 price objective (up from $65.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, July 28th.

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.