Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lowered its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $3,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 902,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,801,000 after acquiring an additional 27,214 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 816,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,232,000 after purchasing an additional 11,118 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 29.5% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 250,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,289,000 after purchasing an additional 56,928 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 5.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 233,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,386,000 after buying an additional 12,846 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 232,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,327,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total transaction of $52,336.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $625,938.56. The trade was a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total value of $290,986.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,386,912.50. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,950 shares of company stock worth $357,663 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LKFN opened at $73.42 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 0.67. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $57.45 and a 12 month high of $78.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $68.32 and a 200-day moving average of $65.31.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $106.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.90 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 22.85% and a return on equity of 13.64%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

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

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.