Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 129,331 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,191 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Sysco were worth $9,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SYY. Trian Fund Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Sysco in the third quarter worth about $80,812,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Sysco by 11.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,859,690 shares of the company's stock worth $717,283,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076,287 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Sysco by 1,591.5% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 764,235 shares of the company's stock worth $50,462,000 after acquiring an additional 719,054 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sysco by 3,671.0% in the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 470,888 shares of the company's stock worth $31,102,000 after acquiring an additional 458,401 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL purchased a new stake in Sysco in the fourth quarter worth about $32,976,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYY has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Stephens increased 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 increased their price target 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 increased their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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 given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sysco currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the firm'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 owns 24,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,926,560. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of Sysco stock traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $77.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,765,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,901,943. The stock has a market cap of $38.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.15. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.65. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $62.24 and a 12-month high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Sysco's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. Sysco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.90%.

Sysco Profile

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.