State of Alaska Department of Revenue Grows Stock Holdings in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,085 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned 0.06% of Lakeland Financial worth $935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 327.9% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 199,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,848,000 after purchasing an additional 152,738 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter worth $6,500,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 679.5% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 113,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,726,000 after buying an additional 98,641 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,795,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 9,426.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 64,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,833,000 after acquiring an additional 63,815 shares during the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LKFN has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $68.00 target price (up previously from $65.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $63.88 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.40. The company has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41 and a beta of 0.59. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a one year low of $50.00 and a one year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.11. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 22.55% and a return on equity of 13.57%. The company had revenue of $63.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.02 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.50%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Lisa M. O’neill sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.72, for a total value of $166,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,292,899.52. The trade was a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 4,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total value of $310,869.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,165,153.74. This trade represents a 12.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,435 shares of company stock valued at $497,769 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

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.