Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Makes New $273,000 Investment in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 4.1% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.2% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.6% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 72,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,436,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 40,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,617,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 33.6% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LKFN shares. Stephens raised their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $60.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In other news, Director Michael L. Kubacki sold 26,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $1,902,166.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 39,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,846,098. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO David M. Findlay sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total value of $783,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,175 shares in the company, valued at $925,060.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael L. Kubacki sold 26,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.51, for a total value of $1,902,166.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 39,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,846,098. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,728 shares of company stock worth $3,670,449. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of LKFN stock opened at $61.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $63.13 and a 200 day moving average of $60.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.81 and a beta of 0.67. Lakeland Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $43.05 and a twelve month high of $73.22.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $65.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.81 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 23.85%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.60%.

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.