Quest Partners LLC Buys 2,667 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 33,337.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,667 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 1.6% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 12,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 58.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.1% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 4.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 60.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $74.50 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.98. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $53.97 and a 52 week high of $78.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35 and a beta of 0.65.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 22.85%. The business had revenue of $106.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 49.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $290,986.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,386,912.50. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total value of $52,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at $625,938.56. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,950 shares of company stock worth $357,663. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.