First Trust Advisors LP Sells 17,768 Shares of Lakeland Financial Corporation $LKFN

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 31.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 38,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,768 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $2,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in Lakeland Financial by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 20,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 9,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 186.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LKFN. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lakeland Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of Lakeland Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lakeland Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lakeland Financial

In other news, Director Bradley J. Toothaker sold 5,900 shares of Lakeland Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $357,658.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,278 shares in the company, valued at $865,532.36. This trade represents a 29.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

LKFN stock opened at $61.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.72. Lakeland Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $54.36 and a fifty-two week high of $69.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.38 and a 200-day moving average of $60.10.

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

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, July 25th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 24th. Lakeland Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.71%.

Lakeland Financial 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.