Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 572,923 Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 572,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,722,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC owned 0.12% of Sysco at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. National Pension Service grew its holdings in Sysco by 15.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,237,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,562,000 after acquiring an additional 166,798 shares during the period. New England Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sysco by 12.7% during the third quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 131,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,254,000 after purchasing an additional 14,810 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Sysco by 3,159.0% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 7,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 6,855 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 29.0% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 78,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,115,000 after buying an additional 17,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 672,940 shares during the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 Sysco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $519,920.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,876,080. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,279 shares of company stock worth $2,786,971 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYY opened at $81.78 on Friday. Sysco Co. has a 12 month low of $69.03 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The company has a market cap of $40.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average is $76.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38.

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

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.