Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) Trading Down 4.1% - Time to Sell?

Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 4.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $62.55 and last traded at $62.55. Approximately 29,390 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 113,461 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Lakeland Financial from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.00.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 2.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.26 and a 200-day moving average of $63.20.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $68.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.70 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 23.70%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is 48.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total transaction of $52,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $625,938.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total value of $52,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at $625,938.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Kristin Pruitt sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were 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 directly owns 10,252 shares of the company's stock, valued at $687,499.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,635 shares of company stock valued at $914,604. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lakeland Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Lakeland Financial by 72.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 8,304 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,847,688 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $120,395,000 after buying an additional 42,862 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $664,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 233,836 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,386,000 after purchasing an additional 12,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings 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 worth $6,042,000 after purchasing an additional 55,975 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company's stock.

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.