OLD Republic International Corp lessened its holdings in Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 21.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 620,200 shares of the company's stock after selling 164,500 shares during the period. Sysco makes up approximately 1.8% of OLD Republic International Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. OLD Republic International Corp owned 0.13% of Sysco worth $46,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sysco by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,519,424 shares of the company's stock worth $4,703,775,000 after purchasing an additional 429,711 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Sysco by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,907,541 shares of the company's stock worth $1,292,751,000 after acquiring an additional 851,441 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 7,184,754 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Sysco by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,868,965 shares of the company's stock worth $905,120,000 after acquiring an additional 233,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Sysco by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,991,476 shares of the company's stock worth $687,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,928,002 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have issued reports on SYY. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $87.00 price target on shares of Sysco and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Sysco in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sysco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.77.
Read Our Latest Report on Sysco
Sysco Price Performance
NYSE SYY traded down $0.37 on Wednesday, reaching $76.16. The company had a trading volume of 588,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,228,438. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.81. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $73.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.28. Sysco Corporation has a 12 month low of $67.12 and a 12 month high of $82.23.
Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.06). Sysco had a return on equity of 107.96% and a net margin of 2.36%. The business had revenue of $19.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sysco Corporation will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.
Sysco Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This is a boost from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Sysco's payout ratio is currently 55.96%.
Insider Activity at Sysco
In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.84, for a total transaction of $25,219.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $902,359.92. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.
About Sysco
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also

Before you consider Sysco, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Sysco wasn't on the list.
While Sysco currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Looking to profit from the electric vehicle mega-trend? Enter your email address and we'll send you our list of which EV stocks show the most long-term potential.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.