Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 693 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Lakeland Financial during the third quarter worth $74,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 72.2% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 0.9 %

LKFN stock opened at $66.41 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.29 and a beta of 0.68. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $57.45 and a 12-month high of $78.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $67.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.99.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 55.10%.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $36,437.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at $329,527.50. This represents a 9.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About Lakeland Financial

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.