Bridgewater Associates LP Has $608,000 Stock Position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Bridgewater Associates LP decreased its holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC - Free Report) by 32.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,512 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,675 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $608,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 20.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Lancaster Colony during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,558,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 38,583 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,200,002 shares of the company's stock worth $380,908,000 after purchasing an additional 30,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Lancaster Colony by 125.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,803,000 after buying an additional 24,589 shares during the period. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of Lancaster Colony stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total value of $3,250,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 29.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lancaster Colony from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lancaster Colony has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Stock Up 0.2 %

LANC traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $191.50. 198,216 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 138,776. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.66 and a beta of 0.38. Lancaster Colony Co. has a one year low of $163.20 and a one year high of $202.63.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Lancaster Colony's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.