Cetera Investment Advisers Reduces Position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Cetera Investment Advisers decreased its position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 767 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers owned approximately 0.08% of Lakeland Financial worth $1,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 342.5% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the first quarter valued at $223,000. First Merchants Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the second quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total value of $28,950.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,641.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Lakeland Financial news, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total value of $28,950.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,641.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $28,597.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,834.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,635 shares of company stock worth $914,604. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $67.28 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.05. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $46.26 and a one year high of $73.22.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 23.70%. The business had revenue of $68.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.04%.

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.