The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Grows Position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.05% of Lakeland Financial worth $793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the second quarter valued at about $1,352,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $390,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 56,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,454,000 after acquiring an additional 4,011 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 686.8% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 57,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 49,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total transaction of $28,597.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at $119,834.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $119,834.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total transaction of $52,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $625,938.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,635 shares of company stock valued at $914,604 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 1.0 %

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $64.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.04. Lakeland Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $46.26 and a twelve month high of $73.22. The company has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83 and a beta of 0.65.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $68.74 million during 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%. Lakeland Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 53.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lakeland Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.00.

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.