Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Acquired by Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 50.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,954 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,671 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SYY. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 11.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721,449 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in Sysco in the third quarter valued at $137,900,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Sysco by 52.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,719,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,666,000 after acquiring an additional 933,327 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sysco by 11.2% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $521,874,000 after acquiring an additional 672,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sysco in the third quarter valued at $44,722,000. 83.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on SYY shares. Melius started coverage on shares of Sysco in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Sysco from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sysco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Down 0.6 %

Sysco stock opened at $74.48 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.20. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $69.03 and a one year high of $82.33.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 106.30%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $3,698,079.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,335,408. This trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Sysco

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.