Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 285 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 342.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 1st quarter worth $223,000. First Merchants Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $215,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total transaction of $28,950.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,641.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kyra E. Clark sold 420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.93, for a total transaction of $28,950.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,641.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $625,938.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,635 shares of company stock valued at $914,604 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN opened at $67.28 on Thursday. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $46.26 and a 12-month high of $73.22. The company has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $64.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.05.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $68.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.70 million. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.70% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 53.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.