Quantbot Technologies LP Sells 1,439 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Quantbot Technologies LP cut its position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 29.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,439 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LKFN. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $320,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 3.1% in 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. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 40.3% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 15,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $992,000 after purchasing an additional 4,371 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 82,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after buying an additional 24,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 3,417 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director M Scott Welch acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,394,600. This trade represents a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a 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 that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,527.50. The trade was a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $60.26 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $65.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.50. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $57.45 and a 12-month high of $78.61. The company has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 0.63.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 21.74% and a return on equity of 13.31%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 55.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LKFN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, January 27th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Lakeland Financial in a research note on Friday, March 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock.

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.