Sapient Capital LLC Raises Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Sapient Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,973 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721,449 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at $137,900,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 52.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,719,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,666,000 after purchasing an additional 933,327 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 11.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 672,940 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,722,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $1,747,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 60,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,846,480. This trade represents a 26.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,270 shares of company stock worth $6,181,946 in the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of Sysco stock opened at $70.57 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $75.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.94. Sysco Co. has a 12 month low of $69.03 and a 12 month high of $82.33.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Melius initiated coverage on Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sysco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.38.

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.