Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Shares Purchased by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 134,491 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,508 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.49% of Lancaster Colony worth $23,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LANC. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 243.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 83,630 shares of the company's stock worth $14,767,000 after purchasing an additional 59,261 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in Lancaster Colony by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 305,264 shares of the company's stock worth $52,853,000 after acquiring an additional 52,030 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Lancaster Colony during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,558,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Lancaster Colony by 62.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,162 shares of the company's stock worth $17,342,000 after acquiring an additional 38,583 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 30,987 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LANC shares. DA Davidson upped their price objective 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. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lancaster Colony currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ:LANC traded up $5.93 on Friday, reaching $189.03. The stock had a trading volume of 178,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 138,290. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12-month low of $163.20 and a 12-month high of $202.63. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $183.92 and a 200 day moving average of $181.44.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The firm's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Lancaster Colony's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. The trade was a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lancaster Colony Profile

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.