Stephanie R. Leniski Sells 1,500 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Stock

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total value of $92,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This trade represents a 19.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ LKFN traded down $0.27 on Tuesday, reaching $61.93. The company had a trading volume of 3,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 108,933. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06 and a beta of 0.63. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $57.45 and a 12 month high of $78.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.85.

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

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lakeland Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,940,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,419,000 after buying an additional 100,001 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,276,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,154,000 after acquiring an additional 27,556 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 956,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,773,000 after acquiring an additional 51,624 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,066,000 after acquiring an additional 43,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 807,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,526,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s 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.