Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Acquires 4,035 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 127.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,035 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In other news, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total value of $92,910.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $384,709.34. This represents a 19.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LKFN has been the subject of several research reports. Hovde Group raised Lakeland Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Lakeland Financial Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $59.63 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $50.00 and a 12 month high of $78.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $57.59 and its 200 day moving average is $65.35.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly 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). Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. The company had revenue of $90.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

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