CX Institutional Invests $391,000 in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

CX Institutional bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $391,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,847,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,395,000 after acquiring an additional 42,862 shares during the last quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 0.8% in the first quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 31,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 72.2% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 8,304 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 82.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 12,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $819,000 after buying an additional 5,571 shares during the period. Finally, Sippican Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In other Lakeland Financial news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total value of $52,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $625,938.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total transaction of $52,336.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $625,938.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total value of $28,950.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $494,641.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,635 shares of company stock worth $914,604 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of LKFN opened at $68.79 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 0.65. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $46.26 and a 12-month high of $73.22.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $68.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.70 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 23.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 53.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.00.

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.