Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 694,062 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59,385 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.14% of Sysco worth $50,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. Trian Fund Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Sysco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,812,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Sysco by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,859,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,283,000 after buying an additional 1,076,287 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Sysco by 1,591.5% in the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 764,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,462,000 after buying an additional 719,054 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sysco by 3,671.0% in the 3rd quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 470,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,102,000 after buying an additional 458,401 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL purchased a new stake in Sysco during the fourth quarter worth about $32,976,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $137,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Price Performance

SYY stock opened at $76.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.15. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $62.24 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $19.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.32 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 105.22% and a net margin of 2.69%. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 48.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SYY. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.38.

About Sysco

Sysco Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the marketing and distribution of various food and related products to the foodservice or food-away-from-home industry in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and internationally. It operates through U.S. Foodservice Operations, International Foodservice Operations, SYGMA, and Other segments.