Williams Financial LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Williams Financial LLC lessened its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,018 shares of the company’s stock after selling 140 shares during the quarter. Sysco comprises about 0.2% of Williams Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Williams Financial LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SYY. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sysco by 70,686.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,967,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $532,666,000 after buying an additional 6,957,665 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sysco during the 4th quarter worth approximately $397,373,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Sysco by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,459,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,859,000 after buying an additional 1,666,008 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $107,472,000. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Sysco by 7,204.3% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,293,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276,096 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $137,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares in the company, valued at $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SYY. StockNews.com cut Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stephens raised their target price on Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sysco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.38.

Sysco Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Sysco stock traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $81.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,201,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,588,442. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00. Sysco Co. has a 1-year low of $62.24 and a 1-year high of $82.89.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $19.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.32 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 105.22% and a net margin of 2.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.