Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. lowered its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 5.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,324 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.10% of Lakeland Financial worth $1,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKFN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,847,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,395,000 after acquiring an additional 42,862 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 816,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,232,000 after purchasing an additional 11,118 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 233,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,386,000 after buying an additional 12,846 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 232,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,327,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 132.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 98,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,042,000 after buying an additional 55,975 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of Lakeland Financial 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $119,834.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total value of $52,336.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $625,938.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,635 shares of company stock worth $914,604 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $63.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.09. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $46.26 and a one year high of $73.22.

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

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 25th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.