Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 315 Shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ:LKFN) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 315 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Lakeland Financial were worth $1,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Lakeland Financial by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,276,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,154,000 after purchasing an additional 27,556 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 946,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,066,000 after purchasing an additional 43,312 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lakeland Financial by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 764,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,545,000 after purchasing an additional 18,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lakeland Financial by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 605,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,406,000 after buying an additional 5,562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Lakeland Financial during the fourth quarter worth $23,111,000. 81.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LKFN shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Hovde Group started coverage on shares of Lakeland Financial in a research report on Friday, March 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Activity at Lakeland Financial

In other news, Director M Scott Welch bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $61.40 per share, for a total transaction of $307,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 39,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,394,600. This represents a 14.71 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephanie R. Leniski sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.94, for a total value of $92,910.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,211 shares in the company, valued at $384,709.34. This represents a 19.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lakeland Financial Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ LKFN opened at $60.26 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.53. Lakeland Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $57.45 and a twelve month high of $78.61.

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.05. Lakeland Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 21.74%. As a group, research analysts expect that Lakeland Financial Co. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lakeland Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Lakeland Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Lakeland Financial’s payout ratio is 55.10%.

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.