Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 336,109 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $23,111,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 1.32% of Lakeland Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Albert D Mason Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 22,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,736,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 50,150 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,448,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 16,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,954 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director M Scott Welch bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total transaction of $92,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at $384,709.34. This trade represents a 19.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LKFN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Hovde Group began coverage on Lakeland Financial in a report on Friday, March 21st. They set a "market perform" rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $54.10. 102,392 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 130,177. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $59.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.96. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $50.74 and a 52-week high of $78.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.10%.

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.