Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC cut its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 36.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,822 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,831 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,276,929 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $83,154,000 after purchasing an additional 27,556 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 902,968 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $58,801,000 after buying an additional 27,214 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 605,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,406,000 after buying an additional 5,562 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 250,139 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,289,000 after acquiring an additional 56,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,560,000. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of LKFN stock traded up $1.31 on Tuesday, hitting $69.34. The stock had a trading volume of 117,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 143,095. Lakeland Financial Co. has a one year low of $57.45 and a one year high of $78.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $69.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.80. The company has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, January 25th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is a boost from Lakeland Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,386,912.50. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up previously 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.