WASHINGTON TRUST Co Sells 9,879 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lowered its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 193,521 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,879 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Sysco were worth $14,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Sysco by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,237,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,562,000 after purchasing an additional 166,798 shares during the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 131,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,254,000 after acquiring an additional 14,810 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 78,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,115,000 after acquiring an additional 17,587 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Sysco by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,874,000 after acquiring an additional 672,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Sysco by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 124,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,706,000 after purchasing an additional 8,891 shares in the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $1,747,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,846,480. This represents a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,270 shares of company stock valued at $6,181,946 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SYY shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.38.

Sysco Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SYY opened at $71.10 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $75.07 and its 200-day moving average is $75.86. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $69.03 and a 1 year high of $82.33. The company has a market capitalization of $34.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Company Profile

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.