B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Purchases 9,344 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 65,022 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,344 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Sysco were worth $4,972,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Sherman Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 107.4% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on SYY. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Melius Research raised Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Sysco from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Performance

Sysco stock opened at $75.10 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $69.03 and a twelve month high of $82.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $73.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.11. The company has a market cap of $36.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $3,698,079.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,335,408. This represents a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.