Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Purchased by Aquatic Capital Management LLC

Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 301.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,442 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,837 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LKFN. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 809.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In other news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at $384,709.34. This represents a 19.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $36,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,527.50. This trade represents a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LKFN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Hovde Group raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $59.59. The stock had a trading volume of 27,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 135,801. The firm's 50-day moving average is $57.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42 and a beta of 0.58. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $50.00 and a 12-month high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last released 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). Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. The company had revenue of $90.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

About Lakeland Financial

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.