Northern Trust Corp Sells 2,993 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Northern Trust Corp reduced its position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 466,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,993 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.83% of Lakeland Financial worth $32,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LKFN. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in Lakeland Financial by 809.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 62.3% during the 4th 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. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LKFN. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This represents a 19.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 owns 4,974 shares in the company, valued at $329,527.50. The trade was a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.5 %

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $59.63 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.35. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $50.00 and a 52-week high of $78.61. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

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.