Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 34,053 Shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its position in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 672,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,053 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $38,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Lakeland Financial by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,887,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,719,000 after buying an additional 19,967 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Lakeland Financial by 4.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,354,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,237,000 after acquiring an additional 57,252 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,049,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,867,000 after purchasing an additional 15,610 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 403.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 383,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,568,000 after purchasing an additional 307,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Lakeland Financial by 68.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 321,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,610,000 after purchasing an additional 130,897 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Lakeland Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lakeland Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $357,658.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $865,532.36. This represents a 29.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven D. Ross sold 1,281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total value of $80,062.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,562.50. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,431 shares of company stock worth $453,526. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LKFN opened at $62.91 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.73. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $54.36 and a 1 year high of $69.40.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a net margin of 26.04% and a return on equity of 14.67%. The company had revenue of $70.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.11 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, July 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.71%.

Lakeland Financial Company Profile

Lakeland Financial Corporation is a bank holding company based in Warsaw, Indiana, that operates through its principal subsidiary, Lakeland Bank. The company offers a full range of commercial and consumer banking services, including deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan offerings spanning commercial real estate, agricultural, mortgage, consumer and small-business lending.

Originally organized in 1893 as Kosciusko County State Bank, the enterprise reorganized as a bank holding company in 1984 to facilitate strategic growth and diversification.