Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 5,531 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 120,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,531 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of Lakeland Financial worth $7,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LKFN. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 132.5% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 98,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,042,000 after acquiring an additional 55,975 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 686.8% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 57,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 49,800 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,352,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 24.8% during the 2nd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 65,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,013,000 after acquiring an additional 12,975 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 5.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 233,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,386,000 after acquiring an additional 12,846 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In related news, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $804,720.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 10,252 shares in the company, valued at $687,499.12. This trade represents a 53.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $290,986.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,386,912.50. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,950 shares of company stock worth $1,162,383. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $72.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 0.65. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $53.97 and a 1 year high of $78.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.61 and a 200-day moving average of $64.39.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $106.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.90 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 22.85%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 49.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th.

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.