Hsbc Holdings PLC Takes Position in Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $654,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LKFN. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Lakeland Financial by 186.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 1,212.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 118.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its stake in shares of Lakeland Financial by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 2,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.49, for a total transaction of $131,342.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 33,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,044,972.93. This trade represents a 6.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $357,658.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $865,532.36. This trade represents a 29.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,336 shares of company stock worth $570,251. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Lakeland Financial stock opened at $61.63 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $60.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.73. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $54.36 and a 52 week high of $69.40.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $69.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.42 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 25.81%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Corporation will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LKFN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lakeland Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

About Lakeland Financial

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.