Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Trims Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 992,644 shares of the company's stock after selling 223,485 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.20% of Sysco worth $75,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Sysco in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sysco in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Sherman Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sysco during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Sysco by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 430 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sysco by 107.4% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 620 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.84, for a total value of $25,219.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,738 shares in the company, valued at $902,359.92. This trade represents a 2.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SYY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays dropped their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Sysco in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $87.00 price target on shares of Sysco and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sysco currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.38.

Sysco Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of SYY stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $70.74. 2,512,147 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,356,762. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.12 and a fifty-two week high of $82.23. The stock's 50 day moving average is $72.59 and its 200-day moving average is $74.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. The company has a market cap of $34.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.91.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.06). Sysco had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 106.30%. The business had revenue of $19.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This is a positive change from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. Sysco's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.96%.

Sysco Company 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.