Eagle Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 250,139 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 56,928 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.98% of Lakeland Financial worth $16,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of LKFN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 worth $58,801,000 after purchasing an additional 27,214 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 816,549 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,232,000 after acquiring an additional 11,118 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 5.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 233,836 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,386,000 after acquiring an additional 12,846 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 232,888 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,327,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 132.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 98,219 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,042,000 after purchasing an additional 55,975 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Insider Activity

In other Lakeland Financial news, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $804,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 10,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $687,499.12. This represents a 53.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the business'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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,950 shares of company stock valued at $1,162,383. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

Shares of LKFN traded up $1.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $75.38. 113,324 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 128,796. The business's 50-day moving average price is $67.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 0.65. Lakeland Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $53.97 and a twelve month high of $78.31.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 22.85% and a return on equity of 13.64%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is 49.87%.

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.