US Bancorp DE Increases Stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LKFN. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $199,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 82,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,368,000 after buying an additional 24,030 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 130.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 50,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,320,000 after buying an additional 28,851 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 57,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,773,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $616,000. 81.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In related news, Director M Scott Welch purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $61.40 per share, with a total value of $307,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 39,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,394,600. The trade was a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction 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 $329,527.50. This represents a 9.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $62.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17 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. The company’s 50 day moving average is $66.62 and its 200 day moving average is $67.89.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS 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 predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.10%.

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.