Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by Copeland Capital Management LLC

Copeland Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 740,622 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,564 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC owned 2.85% of Lakeland Financial worth $44,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $51,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. 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, May 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Melinda Jo Truex purchased 8,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $60.11 per share, with a total value of $499,453.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,507 shares in the company, valued at $992,235.77. This represents a 101.35% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:LKFN traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $61.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 684,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 141,905. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $50.00 and a 1 year high of $78.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.00 and a 200-day moving average of $62.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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 12.71% and a net margin of 21.08%. The business had revenue of $90.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.54 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

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.