Yacktman Asset Management LP Sells 5,317 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Yacktman Asset Management LP lowered its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,515,425 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,317 shares during the quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP owned about 0.30% of Sysco worth $110,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trian Fund Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,812,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Sysco by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,859,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,283,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076,287 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 1,591.5% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 764,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,462,000 after acquiring an additional 719,054 shares in the last quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sysco by 3,671.0% in the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 470,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,102,000 after purchasing an additional 458,401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter worth $32,976,000. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYY has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stephens raised their price target on Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sysco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.38.

Insider Transactions at Sysco

In related news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $137,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Stock Performance

Sysco stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $77.03. 1,168,627 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,872,747. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $62.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $38.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $19.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.32 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 105.22%. Sysco’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Sysco’s payout ratio is 48.90%.

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.