Prudential Financial Inc. Boosts Stock Position in US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD)

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD) by 56.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 636,900 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 230,812 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in US Foods were worth $42,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USFD. Sheets Smith Investment Management bought a new position in shares of US Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $1,375,000. United Services Automobile Association raised its position in US Foods by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 15,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,073,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC bought a new position in US Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $675,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of US Foods by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 108,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,326,000 after acquiring an additional 11,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of US Foods in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,218,000. 98.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

US Foods Price Performance

NYSE USFD opened at $65.22 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. US Foods Holding Corp. has a 12 month low of $49.65 and a 12 month high of $73.19. The stock has a market cap of $15.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $68.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.34.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $9.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.47 billion. US Foods had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 15.03%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that US Foods Holding Corp. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USFD has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of US Foods from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered US Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Barclays raised their target price on US Foods from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of US Foods from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of US Foods from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.09.

Insider Transactions at US Foods

In related news, Director David W. Bullock bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $71.06 per share, with a total value of $284,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $319,770. This represents a 800.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

About US Foods

US Foods Holding Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in marketing, sale, and distribution of fresh, frozen, and dry food and non-food products to foodservice customers in the United States. The company's customers include independently owned single and multi-unit restaurants, regional concepts, national restaurant chains, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and motels, country clubs, government and military organizations, colleges and universities, and retail locations.