Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 37,553 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,052 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $6,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LANC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Lancaster Colony by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,200,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,908,000 after purchasing an additional 30,987 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 556,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,227,000 after purchasing an additional 14,864 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 305,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,853,000 after buying an additional 52,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 285,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,518,000 after buying an additional 5,168 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 213,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,027,000 after buying an additional 9,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on LANC shares. Stephens lifted their target price on Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $211.33.

Insider Activity at Lancaster Colony

In other news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total transaction of $3,250,230.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,447,386.36. The trade was a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

Shares of LANC stock opened at $183.76 on Friday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 1 year low of $163.20 and a 1 year high of $202.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $184.06 and its 200-day moving average is $181.17. The stock has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 32.30 and a beta of 0.38.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. The firm had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. Lancaster Colony’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is currently 66.78%.

About Lancaster Colony

Lancaster Colony Corporation engages in the manufacturing and marketing of specialty food products for the retail and foodservice channels in the United States. It operates in two segments, Retail and Foodservice. The company offers frozen garlic bread under the New York BRAND Bakery; frozen Parkerhouse style yeast and dinner rolls under the Sister Schubert's brand; salad dressings under the Marzetti, Simply Dressed, Cardini's, and Girard's brands; vegetable and fruit dips under the Marzetti brand; croutons and salad toppings under the New York BRAND Bakery, Chatham Village, and Marzetti brands; and frozen pasta under the Marzetti Frozen Pasta brand.