3,407 Shares in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Bought by Aigen Investment Management LP

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.6% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 12,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $787,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 60.0% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $73.22 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.65. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $53.97 and a 52-week high of $78.31.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 22.85% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The business had revenue of $106.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.90 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total value of $52,336.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at $625,938.56. This represents a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $804,720.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 10,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $687,499.12. This trade represents a 53.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,950 shares of company stock worth $868,383. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.