Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Reduces Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,247,399 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,017 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.25% of Sysco worth $91,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in Sysco by 74.0% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 374 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Sysco by 74.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 419 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in Sysco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Sysco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sysco currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.38.

Sysco Stock Performance

SYY traded down $0.39 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $75.44. 2,141,108 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,946,531. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $62.24 and a one year high of $82.89. The stock's fifty day moving average is $79.52 and its 200 day moving average is $74.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00. The firm has a market cap of $37.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Sysco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $137,760.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,926,560. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

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.