Ottinger Eric H 4

What Happened

• Eric H. Ottinger, Executive Vice President of Lakeland Financial Corp (LKFN), recorded a mix of awards, a 401(k) purchase and an option-related withholding.
• On 2026-02-02 he paid the exercise price/tax liability by surrendering 1,536 shares at $60.76 each (value of shares withheld ≈ $93,327). On 2026-02-02 and 2026-02-03 he received stock awards totaling 4,647 shares (2,047 and 2,600 shares) granted at $0.00. Separately, on 2025-12-31 he acquired 101 shares at $61.96 (≈ $6,258), noted as salary redirection/dividend reinvestment into a 401(k).

Key Details

• Transaction dates and amounts:
  • 2025-12-31: Acquired 101 shares @ $61.96 (≈ $6,258) — 401(k) salary redirection/dividend reinvestment (footnote).
  • 2026-02-02: Acquired 2,047 shares @ $0.00 (award/grant).
  • 2026-02-02: Disposed 1,536 shares @ $60.76 (payment of exercise price/tax withholding) — proceeds offset tax/exercise obligations (≈ $93,327).
  • 2026-02-03: Acquired 2,600 shares @ $0.00 (award/grant).
• Shares owned after the transactions: not specified in the disclosure.
• Footnote: Salary redirection and/or dividend reinvestment in 401(k) plan for 2025 (applies to the 101-share transaction).
• Filing date: Form 4 filed 2026-02-04; transactions span 2025-12-31 to 2026-02-03. The Dec. 31 401(k) acquisition is reported later than the trade date (common for payroll/plan contributions).

Context

• The 1,536-share disposition is routine tax withholding tied to an option exercise or stock award settlement (code F), not an open-market sale — this is not a directional sell signal.
• The A-coded items are awards/grants (shares issued at $0), which are acquisitions rather than market purchases and typically reflect compensation rather than direct buying/selling for investment.
• The small 401(k) purchase is a routine payroll/plan contribution and generally not a signal of insider sentiment.