Lakeland Financial Insiders Sold US$4.4m Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

Many Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company's shareholders. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

See our latest analysis for Lakeland Financial

Lakeland Financial Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The insider, Michael Kubacki, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.9m worth of shares at a price of US$71.51 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$61.52). So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 14.67k shares for US$769k. But they sold 65.59k shares for US$4.4m. All up, insiders sold more shares in Lakeland Financial than they bought, over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Insiders At Lakeland Financial Have Sold Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen a bit of insider selling at Lakeland Financial. Senior VP & Chief Human Resource Officer Kyra Clark sold just US$31k worth of shares in that time. Neither the lack of buying nor the presence of selling is heartening. But the selling simply isn't sufficiently substantial to be of much use as a signal.

Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Lakeland Financial insiders own about US$44m worth of shares. That equates to 2.9% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The Lakeland Financial Insider Transactions Indicate?

We did not see any insider buying in the last three months, but we did see selling. But given the selling was modest, we're not worried. Recent sales exacerbate our caution arising from analysis of Lakeland Financial insider transactions. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Lakeland Financial that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

Of course Lakeland Financial may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com