Ballentine Partners LLC Has $914,000 Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,950 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 11.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,617,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721,449 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 26.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,623,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $615,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,180 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter valued at $137,900,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Sysco by 52.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,719,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,666,000 after buying an additional 933,327 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Sysco by 11.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,874,000 after buying an additional 672,940 shares during the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of SYY opened at $73.41 on Thursday. Sysco Co. has a 52 week low of $69.03 and a 52 week high of $82.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $76.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SYY shares. Melius initiated coverage on Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Melius Research raised shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sysco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $519,920.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,876,080. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.