Sei Investments Co. Boosts Holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN - Free Report) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,843 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,349 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.13% of Lakeland Financial worth $2,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Lakeland Financial in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial in the third quarter valued at $74,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LKFN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial in a report on Friday, March 21st. They set a "market perform" rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Donald Robinson-Gay sold 550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total transaction of $36,437.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at $329,527.50. This trade represents a 9.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total transaction of $92,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at $384,709.34. This represents a 19.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LKFN stock traded down $3.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $52.42. 232,114 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 124,007. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $51.27 and a 12-month high of $78.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 0.64. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $62.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.66.

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

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. Lakeland Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.10%.

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.