Eastern Bank Sells 2,999 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Eastern Bank lowered its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 216,182 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,999 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Sysco were worth $16,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Sysco by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,617,000 after buying an additional 2,721,449 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised 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 valued at $615,076,000 after buying an additional 1,782,180 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Sysco by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,874,000 after buying an additional 672,940 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Sysco by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,796,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,410,000 after buying an additional 422,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Sysco by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 4,790,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,789,000 after buying an additional 375,409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on SYY. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Melius started coverage on shares of Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Melius Research upgraded shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sysco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.93.

Sysco Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SYY traded up $0.24 during trading on Monday, reaching $73.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,739,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,844,561. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $77.02 and its 200 day moving average is $75.75. 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 52 week low of $69.03 and a 52 week high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $36.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.18.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at $3,638,670.10. This trade represents a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is 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.