Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Stock Position Raised by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 187.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,017 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LKFN. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $23,111,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,560,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 250,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,289,000 after purchasing an additional 56,928 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,066,000 after purchasing an additional 43,312 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 130.5% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $61.38 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.86 and a 200-day moving average of $67.96. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 0.63. Lakeland Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $57.45 and a twelve month high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. Equities research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.