Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Bought by Exeter Financial LLC

Exeter Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 17,557 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the quarter. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Sysco by 1.2% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 506,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,170,000 after purchasing an additional 6,132 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Sysco by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 47,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,383,000 after buying an additional 1,063 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Sysco by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 14,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 1,545 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco during the 2nd quarter worth about $257,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Sysco by 12.7% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,022 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SYY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sysco currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $3,698,079.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares in the company, valued at $4,335,408. This trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $519,920.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,876,080. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,306 shares of company stock valued at $6,485,050 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Performance

Sysco stock opened at $73.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $36.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.18. Sysco Co. has a 12 month low of $69.03 and a 12 month high of $82.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. Sysco’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. Research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

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.