Cerity Partners LLC Has $12.87 Million Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 175,938 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,372 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Sysco were worth $12,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SYY. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Sysco by 166.0% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 16,127 shares of the company's stock worth $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 10,065 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 258,746 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,068,000 after purchasing an additional 16,772 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 22,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 2,522 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 659,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,865,000 after purchasing an additional 6,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 54.8% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 833 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SYY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sysco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $137,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,926,560. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sysco Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of SYY traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $75.65. The company had a trading volume of 2,106,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,967,091. The company's 50 day moving average price is $79.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.15. The stock has a market cap of $37.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.15. Sysco Co. has a 52 week low of $62.24 and a 52 week high of $82.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00.

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

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Sysco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.90%.

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.