Sandy Spring Bank Lowers Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Sandy Spring Bank decreased its position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,508 shares of the company’s stock after selling 242 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Sysco were worth $651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Buckley Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 4,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 7.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 124,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,706,000 after purchasing an additional 8,891 shares during the period. Clark & Stuart Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,613,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 76.0% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 135,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,256,000 after purchasing an additional 58,430 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In related news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of SYY stock opened at $71.12 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.36. The company has a market cap of $34.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.28, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $69.03 and a 12-month high of $82.33.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its 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 in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. Analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Sysco’s payout ratio is 52.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SYY. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Sysco in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Melius began coverage on shares of Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.77.

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.