Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Purchased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 946,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 43,312 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 3.71% of Lakeland Financial worth $65,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 72.2% in the third 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Monday, January 27th.

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Insider Activity

In other Lakeland Financial news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $36,437.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at $329,527.50. This trade represents a 9.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director M Scott Welch bought 5,000 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,394,600. The trade was a 14.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ LKFN traded up $1.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $62.33. 121,787 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 132,839. The business's 50 day moving average is $66.62 and its 200-day moving average is $67.89. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $57.45 and a 12-month high of $78.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17 and a beta of 0.63.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is a positive change from Lakeland Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.10%.

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.