Insider Selling: Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) SVP Sells $15,805.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Lakeland Financial SVP Kyra Clark sold 250 shares at an average price of $63.22, totaling $15,805 and reducing her ownership by 2.15% to 11,396 shares.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $1.13, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.08, while revenue of $70.87 million fell short of the $72.11 million consensus forecast.
• Lakeland Financial declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52, equivalent to an annualized $2.08 payout and a 3.3% yield. Shares recently traded at $62.65, while analysts’ average rating remained “Hold” with a $66.50 price target.

Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) SVP Kyra Clark sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.22, for a total value of $15,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at $720,455.12. The trade was a 2.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $62.65. The company had a trading volume of 169,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 188,717. The company's fifty day moving average price is $61.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.93. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $54.36 and a 12 month high of $69.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 0.73.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $70.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.11 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.67% and a net margin of 26.04%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, July 25th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 24th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is 47.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 729 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 20,743 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 24,790 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,422,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 9,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on LKFN shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lakeland Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lakeland Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.50.

About Lakeland Financial

Lakeland Financial Corporation is a bank holding company based in Warsaw, Indiana, that operates through its principal subsidiary, Lakeland Bank. The company offers a full range of commercial and consumer banking services, including deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan offerings spanning commercial real estate, agricultural, mortgage, consumer and small-business lending.

Originally organized in 1893 as Kosciusko County State Bank, the enterprise reorganized as a bank holding company in 1984 to facilitate strategic growth and diversification.

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