Bridgewater Associates LP Reduces Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Bridgewater Associates LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 35.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 309,424 shares of the company’s stock after selling 172,758 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Sysco were worth $24,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 1,240.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Sysco in the third quarter worth $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Sysco during the second quarter worth $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in Sysco during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SYY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com cut Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sysco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.77.

Sysco Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE SYY opened at $76.65 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.76. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $69.03 and a one year high of $82.89. The company has a market capitalization of $37.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.20. 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 (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total value of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This trade represents a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.