Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Shares Sold by Congress Wealth Management LLC DE

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE cut its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,352 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,352 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Lancaster Colony by 1.4% during the 4th 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. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 182.0% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,748,000 after buying an additional 10,243 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony during the fourth quarter valued at $693,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC lifted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 1,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lancaster Colony

In other news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of Lancaster Colony stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LANC shares. DA Davidson lifted 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. StockNews.com raised Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lancaster Colony has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Stock Down 0.9 %

LANC stock opened at $174.79 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.29. The company has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of 30.72 and a beta of 0.31. Lancaster Colony Co. has a twelve month low of $163.20 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

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

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend 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.