First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Decreases Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lowered its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,327 shares of the company’s stock after selling 510 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SYY. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sysco by 1,240.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in Sysco during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in Sysco in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in Sysco in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SYY shares. 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 company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Melius began coverage on Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Sysco from $82.00 to $79.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sysco has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.79.

Sysco Stock Performance

SYY opened at $76.83 on Tuesday. Sysco Co. has a 1-year low of $69.03 and a 1-year high of $82.89. The stock has a market cap of $37.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $1,747,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,846,480. This trade represents a 26.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This represents a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 83,306 shares of company stock valued at $6,485,050 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.