NFJ Investment Group LLC Sells 11,240 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

NFJ Investment Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 161,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,240 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $10,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Lakeland Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 33,337.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 2,667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP James Rickard Donovan sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.42, for a total value of $52,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $625,938.56. This trade represents a 7.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 3,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.50, for a total transaction of $290,986.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,386,912.50. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,950 shares of company stock worth $357,663 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Lakeland Financial Price Performance

LKFN stock traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $74.14. 8,415 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 114,561. The company has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $68.16 and its 200-day moving average is $65.24. Lakeland Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $57.45 and a 12 month high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $106.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.90 million. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 22.85%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Lakeland Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 49.87%.

Lakeland Financial 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.