Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Sold by Wendell David Associates Inc.

Wendell David Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 3.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,925 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,475 shares during the quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $4,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Sysco by 143.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,296,000 after acquiring an additional 7,184,754 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $450,441,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Sysco by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,991,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $687,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928,002 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $123,928,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Sysco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $97,078,000. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Sysco in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $78.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their target price 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, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sysco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Sysco Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of SYY stock opened at $74.77 on Tuesday. Sysco Co. has a 1-year low of $67.12 and a 1-year high of $82.23. The firm has a market cap of $36.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $19.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.11 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. This is a boost from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is 55.96%.

Insider Transactions at Sysco

In related news, Director Sheila Talton sold 356 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now owns 12,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $902,359.92. The trade was a 2.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.