547,629 Shares in The Marzetti Company $MZTI Bought by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 547,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,041,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 2.00% of Marzetti at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in Marzetti during the 4th quarter worth $1,118,569,000. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Marzetti during the 4th quarter worth $367,969,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new stake in Marzetti during the 4th quarter worth $43,355,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Marzetti during the 4th quarter worth $40,196,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Marzetti during the 4th quarter worth $38,625,000. 66.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marzetti Price Performance

NASDAQ:MZTI opened at $115.00 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $131.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.00 and a beta of 0.38. The Marzetti Company has a 1-year low of $110.31 and a 1-year high of $190.96.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Marzetti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MZTI shares. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Marzetti from $184.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Marzetti from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Marzetti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Marzetti from $160.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marzetti presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.33.

Marzetti 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.