Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 168,874 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,068 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Sysco were worth $12,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SYY shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Sysco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $87.00 price target on Sysco and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup started coverage on Sysco in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Sysco from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Sysco Stock Up 2.2%

SYY stock traded up $1.57 on Friday, reaching $73.64. 1,299,314 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,328,113. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.80. The company has a market cap of $35.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.80. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $67.12 and a one year high of $82.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

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

Sysco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This is an increase from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Sysco's dividend payout ratio is 55.96%.

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 transaction of $25,219.04. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

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.