Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 282,926 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,799 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned about 1.11% of Lakeland Financial worth $19,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 130.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 50,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,320,000 after acquiring an additional 28,851 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 57,933 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,560,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,066,000 after acquiring an additional 43,312 shares in the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, Director M Scott Welch purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,394,600. The trade was a 14.71 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This trade represents a 19.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of LKFN stock traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $55.48. 32,475 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 133,076. Lakeland Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.00 and a fifty-two week high of $78.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $58.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.77. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 0.64.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 for 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, equities analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKFN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Hovde Group initiated coverage on Lakeland Financial in a research report on Friday, March 21st. They set a "market perform" rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective 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.

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.