Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires 4,373 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 130,041 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,373 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $9,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SYY. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Sherman Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 430 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sysco by 107.4% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $3,698,079.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,335,408. This represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Melius Research raised Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Performance

SYY opened at $71.42 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $34.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. Sysco Co. has a 1-year low of $69.03 and a 1-year high of $82.33.

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

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. Sysco’s payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

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.