Choreo LLC Sells 3,838 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Choreo LLC lessened its holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 32.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,029 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,838 shares during the period. Choreo LLC's holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LKFN. Albert D Mason Inc. raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 22,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,557,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings 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 raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 3.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sippican Capital Advisors raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 19,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,332,000 after buying an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In related news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $290,986.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,475 shares in the company, valued at $2,386,912.50. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock traded down $0.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $67.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 63,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 153,697. The business's fifty day moving average price is $68.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.78. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56 and a beta of 0.68. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $57.45 and a one year high of $78.61.

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

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is a positive change from Lakeland Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is presently 55.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lakeland Financial 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.