US Bancorp DE Purchases 890 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 72.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 890 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 342.5% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 58.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial in the third quarter worth $201,000. Finally, First Merchants Corp acquired a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the second quarter valued at $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $804,720.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 10,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $687,499.12. This represents a 53.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $625,938.56. This trade represents a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,950 shares of company stock worth $868,383. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LKFN opened at $73.22 on Friday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $53.97 and a 52 week high of $78.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $66.26 and its 200-day moving average is $64.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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 report on Monday, July 29th.

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.