Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 72,859 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC - Free Report) by 87.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,771 shares of the company's stock after selling 72,859 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $1,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LANC. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,604 shares of the company's stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 11,687 shares of the company's stock worth $2,023,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 5,400 shares of the company's stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 280 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 3.2 %

LANC traded up $5.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $189.03. 178,905 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 138,290. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $183.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22 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 announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $509.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.43 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. Lancaster Colony's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Lancaster Colony

In other Lancaster Colony news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 owns 54,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. This represents a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 29.50% of the company's stock.

Lancaster Colony Company 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.