State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Buys New Position in The Marzetti Company $MZTI

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in shares of The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 12,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MZTI. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marzetti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marzetti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marzetti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marzetti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marzetti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Marzetti Trading Down 2.8%

MZTI stock opened at $113.69 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.73. The Marzetti Company has a 1-year low of $111.04 and a 1-year high of $190.96. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79 and a beta of 0.38.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Marzetti’s payout ratio is currently 62.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MZTI shares. Wall Street Zen cut Marzetti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. DA Davidson cut their target price on Marzetti from $184.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on Marzetti from $160.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.33.

Marzetti 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.