Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by NFJ Investment Group LLC

NFJ Investment Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 152,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,485 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC owned 0.60% of Lakeland Financial worth $10,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,276,929 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $83,154,000 after acquiring an additional 27,556 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 130.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 50,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 28,851 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 605,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,406,000 after purchasing an additional 5,562 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $201,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 57,933 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,773,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LKFN. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Friday, March 21st. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director M Scott Welch bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $61.40 per share, with a total value of $307,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 39,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,394,600. The trade was a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total value of $36,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at $329,527.50. This trade represents a 9.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lakeland Financial Trading Down 1.5 %

Lakeland Financial stock traded down $0.80 during trading on Monday, hitting $52.22. The company had a trading volume of 25,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,989. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 0.64. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $50.74 and a 1-year high of $78.61. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $60.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.21.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. As a group, analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.10%.

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.