Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Bought by First Manhattan CO. LLC.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 77.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,071 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,199 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Sherman Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 12,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at $902,359.92. This represents a 2.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on SYY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Sysco from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Sysco has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $83.38.

Sysco Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:SYY traded up $0.28 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,425,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,368,539. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.20. 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 price is $72.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.09. The company has a market capitalization of $34.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.80.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $19.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.11 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 106.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This is a positive change from Sysco's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Sysco's dividend payout ratio is 55.96%.

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.