Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lessened its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 902 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LKFN. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 130.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 50,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,320,000 after acquiring an additional 28,851 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 57,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter worth $10,560,000. Albert D Mason Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 22,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,557,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $36,437.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $329,527.50. This represents a 9.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director M Scott Welch bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LKFN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Hovde Group upgraded Lakeland Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $60.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.32. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $50.00 and a 1-year high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $90.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.54 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

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.