Insider Selling: Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) EVP Sells 3,959 Shares of Stock

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $290,986.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,475 shares in the company, valued at $2,386,912.50. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $72.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 114,993. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $66.43 and a 200 day moving average of $64.31. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $53.97 and a 12 month high of $78.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01 and a beta of 0.65.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 22.85%. The firm had revenue of $106.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Lakeland Financial Company 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.