Cerity Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 19,755 US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD)

Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $897,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of USFD. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of US Foods during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of US Foods by 36.1% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,191 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of US Foods during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of US Foods during the third quarter worth $61,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of US Foods by 95.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. 98.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other US Foods news, EVP David A. Rickard sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.52, for a total value of $2,626,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 148,561 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,802,423.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

US Foods Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of US Foods stock traded up $0.30 on Tuesday, hitting $50.74. 1,121,235 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,731,207. The stock has a market cap of $12.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm's 50-day moving average is $51.80 and its 200 day moving average is $46.21. US Foods Holding Corp. has a 52-week low of $35.66 and a 52-week high of $54.94.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $8.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.81 billion. US Foods had a net margin of 1.42% and a return on equity of 13.41%. Equities analysts anticipate that US Foods Holding Corp. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on USFD shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on US Foods from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com raised US Foods from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on US Foods from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group raised US Foods from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on US Foods from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.92.

US Foods Profile

US Foods Holding Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in marketing, sale, and distribution of fresh, frozen, and dry food and non-food products to foodservice customers in the United States. The company's customers include independently owned single and multi-unit restaurants, regional concepts, national restaurant chains, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and motels, country clubs, government and military organizations, colleges and universities, and retail locations.