By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN – Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 946,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 43,312 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $65,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased 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 period. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 764,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,545,000 after purchasing an additional 18,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 605,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,406,000 after purchasing an additional 5,562 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 29.5% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 250,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,289,000 after purchasing an additional 56,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 210,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,469,000 after purchasing an additional 3,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total value of $36,437.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at $329,527.50. This trade represents a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director M Scott Welch bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $61.40 per share, with a total value of $307,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 39,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,394,600. This trade represents a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Lakeland Financial Trading Up 0.4 %
Shares of LKFN stock opened at $61.38 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.91 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.96.
Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.
Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.10%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Monday, January 27th.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on LKFN
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.
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