Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 124,268 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 845,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 124,268 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned about 3.32% of Lakeland Financial worth $52,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 686.8% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 57,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,510,000 after acquiring an additional 49,800 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 1.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 816,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,232,000 after acquiring an additional 11,118 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 15,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 233,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,386,000 after purchasing an additional 12,846 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.00.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

LKFN opened at $67.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.58 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $66.02 and its 200-day moving average is $63.11. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $44.47 and a 52-week high of $73.22.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $68.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.70 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.70% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 25th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total value of $28,597.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,834.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total transaction of $52,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $625,938.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total transaction of $28,597.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,834.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,635 shares of company stock worth $914,604 over the last three months. 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.