Primecap Management Co. CA Lowers Holdings in Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY)

Key Points

• Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its stake in Sysco Corporation by 5.1%, selling 222,158 shares, leaving it with approximately 4.11 million shares valued at $308.8 million.
• Several analysts have given Sysco a mix of ratings, with Wells Fargo setting a target price of $88, while Wall Street Zen downgraded it from a "buy" to a "hold" rating.
• Sysco reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for its latest quarter, beating expectations and achieving a 2.8% year-over-year revenue increase to $21.14 billion.

Primecap Management Co. CA lessened its position in shares of Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,115,071 shares of the company's stock after selling 222,158 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 0.85% of Sysco worth $308,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Sysco by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,991,476 shares of the company's stock valued at $687,488,000 after buying an additional 1,928,002 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its position in shares of Sysco by 29,610.4% in the first quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,431,149 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,393,000 after buying an additional 1,426,332 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sysco by 251.6% in the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,452,073 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,026,000 after buying an additional 1,039,088 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of Sysco by 9,792.2% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 980,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,978,000 after buying an additional 970,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Sysco by 1,940.1% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,016,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,290,000 after buying an additional 966,826 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Sysco

In other news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $3,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 56,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,504,320. This represents a 41.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ronald L. Phillips sold 37,606 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $3,046,086.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,449,035. This represents a 55.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Sysco Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE SYY traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $80.64. 3,584,571 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,329,106. The business's fifty day moving average is $76.78 and its 200 day moving average is $73.85. Sysco Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $67.12 and a fifty-two week high of $82.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.75, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.09. Sysco had a net margin of 2.25% and a return on equity of 109.52%. The company had revenue of $21.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Sysco Corporation will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Sysco and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Sysco in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Sysco and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sysco currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.69.

About Sysco

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.