Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Acquires New Position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,940,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $133,419,000 after purchasing an additional 100,001 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 956,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,773,000 after acquiring an additional 51,624 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 807,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,526,000 after buying an additional 6,307 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $23,111,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 54.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 307,242 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,126,000 after acquiring an additional 107,765 shares during the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LKFN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $68.00 price objective (up previously from $65.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group raised Lakeland Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In other news, Director Melinda Jo Truex purchased 8,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $60.11 per share, for a total transaction of $499,453.99. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 16,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $992,235.77. This trade represents a 101.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lisa M. O'neill sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.72, for a total value of $166,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,292,899.52. This represents a 6.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Lakeland Financial stock traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $60.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 45,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 172,936. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.00 and a fifty-two week high of $78.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51 and a beta of 0.63. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $62.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.69.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.11. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.57% and a net margin of 22.55%. The business had revenue of $63.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 25th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is presently 54.50%.

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.