Fmr LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Fmr LLC increased its stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,030 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Lakeland Financial worth $5,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKFN. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 40.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 15,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $992,000 after purchasing an additional 4,371 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 29.5% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 250,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,289,000 after acquiring an additional 56,928 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 3.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 902,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,801,000 after purchasing an additional 27,214 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $320,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $616,000. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In related news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $290,986.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,386,912.50. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 4,150 shares of company stock worth $305,327 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Trading Down 1.4 %

LKFN opened at $73.02 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $57.45 and a twelve month high of $78.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $69.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.85.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $59.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.87%.

Lakeland Financial Company 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.