Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Acquired by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 686.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,051 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 49,800 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.22% of Lakeland Financial worth $3,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $120,395,000 after buying an additional 42,862 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 11,118 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $14,386,000 after purchasing an additional 12,846 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 100.9% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 145,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,477,000 after purchasing an additional 73,045 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Lakeland Financial

In related news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total value of $28,597.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,739 shares in the company, valued at $119,834.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Brok A. Lahrman sold 415 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.91, for a total value of $28,597.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $119,834.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total transaction of $52,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at $625,938.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,635 shares of company stock valued at $914,604. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN traded up $0.95 during trading on Monday, reaching $65.12. The stock had a trading volume of 66,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 114,781. The business's 50-day moving average price is $65.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.05. Lakeland Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.59 and a fifty-two week high of $73.22. The company has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.00 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 25th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 25th. Lakeland Financial's payout ratio is currently 53.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.