Gradient Investments LLC Increases Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Gradient Investments LLC increased its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 175,980 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,080 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $13,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 11.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,617,000 after buying an additional 2,721,449 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Sysco by 26.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,623,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $615,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,180 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 11.2% in the third 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. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 9.7% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,796,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,410,000 after purchasing an additional 422,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 8.5% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 4,790,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,789,000 after purchasing an additional 375,409 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 60,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,846,480. The trade was a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $519,920.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,876,080. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 83,306 shares of company stock valued at $6,485,050 over the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sysco Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of SYY opened at $74.81 on Friday. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $69.03 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $76.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.04). Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The business had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on SYY shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Sysco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sysco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.79.

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.