Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY) Shares Purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,196,948 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,492 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.24% of Sysco worth $89,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Patron Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sysco by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its position in Sysco by 81.1% in the first quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 5,582 shares of the company's stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 13.9% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 75,158 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,569,000 after purchasing an additional 9,164 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 20.8% during the first quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 5,297 shares of the company's stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 3.3% during the first quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 37,671 shares of the company's stock worth $2,827,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SYY. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Sysco in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $78.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $87.00 target price on Sysco and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays dropped their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Sysco from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Sysco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 12,738 shares in the company, valued at $902,359.92. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sysco Stock Up 2.1%

NYSE SYY traded up $1.56 on Tuesday, hitting $77.30. 498,039 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,220,765. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $72.88 and a 200 day moving average of $73.27. Sysco Corporation has a twelve month low of $67.12 and a twelve month high of $82.23. The company has a market capitalization of $37.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.81.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 107.96%. The firm had revenue of $19.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. Sysco's revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Sysco Corporation will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This is an increase from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Sysco's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.85%.

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.