nVerses Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 60.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the quarter. nVerses Capital LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $52,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 342.5% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. First Merchants Corp purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $215,000. Sippican Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $223,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $65.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.13. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $46.26 and a one year high of $73.22. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99 and a beta of 0.65.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.70 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.70% and a return on equity of 14.72%. Lakeland Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 53.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total value of $28,950.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $494,641.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Lakeland Financial news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of the 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 sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total transaction of $28,950.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $494,641.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,635 shares of company stock worth $914,604 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.