Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Position Cut by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc lowered its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 35.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 26,961 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,976 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Sysco were worth $2,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Sysco by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721,449 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Sysco during the third quarter worth approximately $137,900,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Sysco in the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,078,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Sysco by 52.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,719,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,666,000 after acquiring an additional 933,327 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Sysco by 42.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,730,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,341,000 after acquiring an additional 809,582 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sysco

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group lowered 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, Melius initiated coverage on Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sysco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYY opened at $73.35 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. Sysco Co. has a 52-week low of $69.03 and a 52-week high of $82.33.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 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.