Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Takes $10.56 Million Position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 153,574 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,560,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.60% of Lakeland Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 60.0% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 800 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,123 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $290,986.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 4,150 shares of company stock worth $305,327 over the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Lakeland Financial stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.39. 494,549 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 102,300. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $57.45 and a 1 year high of $78.61. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.76 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.40.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $106.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.90 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 22.85% and a return on equity of 13.64%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, January 25th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is 51.95%.

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.