Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Purchased by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 35.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,516 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 928 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SYY. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 10.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Sysco by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 155,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,588,000 after acquiring an additional 4,088 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Sysco by 2.2% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 78,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,671 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 15.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,237,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,562,000 after purchasing an additional 166,798 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SYY shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sysco from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Melius Research raised Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Down 0.6 %

SYY stock opened at $74.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $36.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $69.03 and a twelve month high of $82.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $73.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.62.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced 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 posted $0.89 EPS. Research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 56,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,335,408. This trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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.