Squarepoint Ops LLC decreased its stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 34.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,627 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,858 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Lakeland Financial worth $1,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 809.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research firms recently commented on LKFN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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. Hovde Group raised shares of Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on LKFN
Lakeland Financial Trading Down 1.6%
Shares of NASDAQ LKFN traded down $0.96 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.30. The company had a trading volume of 108,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 139,418. Lakeland Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $50.00 and a twelve month high of $78.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 0.58.
Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.09). Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.
Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is currently 57.14%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial
In related news, Director Melinda Jo Truex purchased 8,309 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $992,235.77. This trade represents a 101.35% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director M Scott Welch purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,394,600. The trade was a 14.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Lakeland Financial
(
Free Report)
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.
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