J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 38.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,324 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,024 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SYY. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,859,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,283,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076,287 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,138,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,435,000 after acquiring an additional 178,464 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,651,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,298,000 after acquiring an additional 265,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,738,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,907,000 after acquiring an additional 21,700 shares during the period. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,320,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,240,000 after acquiring an additional 9,385 shares during the period. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on SYY shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.38.

Sysco Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE SYY opened at $76.94 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.65. Sysco Co. has a 52 week low of $62.24 and a 52 week high of $82.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00. The stock has a market cap of $38.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.15.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.32 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 105.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 48.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other Sysco news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $137,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,082 shares in the company, valued at $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sysco Profile

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.