Swedbank AB Sells 193,787 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Swedbank AB lessened its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,009,020 shares of the company’s stock after selling 193,787 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Sysco were worth $156,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SYY. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Sysco during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Sysco by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 1,042 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sysco by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 932,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,696,000 after buying an additional 86,106 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP grew its position in shares of Sysco by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 18,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,527,000 after buying an additional 2,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kinloch Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Sysco by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Kinloch Capital LLC now owns 44,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,635,000 after buying an additional 2,840 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $216,427.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This represents a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total value of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at $3,638,670.10. This represents a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Trading Up 0.9 %

Sysco stock opened at $75.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $75.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $69.03 and a one year high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $37.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.20.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

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.