KFG Wealth Management LLC Sells 5,000 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

KFG Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 22.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. KFG Wealth Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Lakeland Financial worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 47.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 22,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 78.9% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 45.3% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock traded up $2.53 on Friday, reaching $61.65. 116,401 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 126,082. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $43.05 and a 52 week high of $73.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $63.33 and a 200 day moving average of $60.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.10. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 23.85% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The firm had revenue of $65.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is currently 52.60%.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In related news, CEO David M. Findlay sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total transaction of $783,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $925,060.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Lakeland Financial news, CEO David M. Findlay sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total value of $783,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $925,060.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lisa M. O’neill sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.70, for a total transaction of $98,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 34,655 shares in the company, valued at $2,276,833.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,728 shares of company stock worth $3,670,449. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LKFN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $60.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th.

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.