Professional Advisory Services Inc. Acquires Shares of 274,267 Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Professional Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 274,267 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,057,000. Sysco accounts for approximately 2.9% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Professional Advisory Services Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Sysco at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Sysco by 74.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 419 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Sysco during the first quarter worth about $32,000. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Sysco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sysco in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.60% of the company's stock.

Sysco Stock Performance

Sysco stock traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $81.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,550,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,131,506. The company has a market capitalization of $40.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $78.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.75. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $62.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.32 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 105.22% and a net margin of 2.69%. The company's revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Sysco's payout ratio is currently 48.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $137,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,926,560. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on SYY shares. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Sysco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.38.

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.