AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 6,981 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 201,391 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,981 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Sysco were worth $15,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SYY. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Sysco by 43.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,715,356 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,902,000 after purchasing an additional 517,219 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sysco in the third quarter worth $610,000. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in Sysco by 14.7% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 4,238 shares of the company's stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Sysco by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 572,158 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,038,000 after purchasing an additional 73,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sysco by 3.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 608,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,471,000 after purchasing an additional 22,513 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company's stock.

Sysco Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE SYY traded down $0.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $70.77. 2,400,998 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,350,370. Sysco Co. has a 12 month low of $67.12 and a 12 month high of $82.23. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.16. The company has a market capitalization of $34.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.80.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $19.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.11 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. Sysco's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.54 dividend. This is a positive change from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Sysco's payout ratio is 55.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.84, for a total transaction of $25,219.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $902,359.92. This represents a 2.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Sysco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Sysco in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three equities research 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.