Sapient Capital LLC Makes New $257,000 Investment in Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.6% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 72,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,436,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 359.1% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Lakeland Financial by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 40,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,617,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Lakeland Financial by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. 81.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

Lakeland Financial stock opened at $61.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. Lakeland Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.05 and a fifty-two week high of $73.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.33.

Lakeland Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is presently 53.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 5,247 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.75, for a total transaction of $350,237.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,434,706.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Lakeland Financial news, EVP Eric H. Ottinger sold 5,247 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.75, for a total value of $350,237.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,434,706.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jonathan P. Steiner sold 3,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total value of $212,093.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $193,675.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,068 shares of company stock valued at $1,637,583. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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