Meyer Handelman Co. Sells 14,523 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Meyer Handelman Co. decreased its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 503,704 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,523 shares during the quarter. Sysco comprises approximately 1.3% of Meyer Handelman Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Meyer Handelman Co. owned approximately 0.10% of Sysco worth $38,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $519,920.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,876,080. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,306 shares of company stock worth $6,485,050 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sysco Stock Up 0.4 %

SYY stock opened at $73.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.94 and a 200-day moving average of $75.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.03 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The company has a market capitalization of $36.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.18.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is 52.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYY has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Melius initiated coverage on Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.93.

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.