Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Cuts Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 5.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 294,483 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,071 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $22,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,156,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Sysco during the third quarter valued at about $390,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Sysco by 45.5% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 2,124 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its position in Sysco by 49.8% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 16,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Sysco by 4.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,265,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,983,000 after acquiring an additional 168,163 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Sysco news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at $3,638,670.10. The trade was a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at $966,831.65. The trade was a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,279 shares of company stock worth $2,786,971. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SYY opened at $80.73 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.00 and a 200 day moving average of $74.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38. The stock has a market cap of $39.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19. Sysco Co. has a 12 month low of $69.03 and a 12 month high of $82.89.

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). Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.