Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN Shares Sold by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC lessened its holdings in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 68.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,482 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of LKFN. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 40.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Trading Down 2.5%

LKFN stock opened at $56.79 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.91. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $50.00 and a 12-month high of $78.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 0.59.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.01. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.77% and a net margin of 23.23%.The company had revenue of $69.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Lakeland Financial’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, October 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 24th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 54.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 4,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.07, for a total transaction of $310,869.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,282 shares in the company, valued at $2,165,153.74. This represents a 12.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Lakeland Financial from $68.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (down previously from $74.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.67.

Lakeland Financial 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.