AdvisorShares Investments LLC Acquires Shares of 8,063 Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $616,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 143.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company's stock worth $930,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184,754 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sysco during the 4th quarter worth $450,441,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Sysco by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,991,476 shares of the company's stock valued at $687,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928,002 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new stake in Sysco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $123,928,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sysco during the 4th quarter valued at $97,078,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.84, for a total value of $25,219.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,738 shares in the company, valued at $902,359.92. This trade represents a 2.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sysco Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:SYY traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $70.74. 2,512,147 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,359,361. The business has a 50-day moving average of $72.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.20. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $67.12 and a 12-month high of $82.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.91.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.06). Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. The business had revenue of $19.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This is an increase from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Sysco's payout ratio is currently 55.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYY has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Sysco in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $87.00 price target on shares of Sysco and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.38.

Sysco Company 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.