Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 260,187 shares of the company’s stock after selling 769 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $19,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sysco during the 4th quarter worth about $258,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Sysco by 116.4% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 25,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,958,000 after buying an additional 13,779 shares during the period. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC boosted its position in Sysco by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC now owns 11,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $850,000 after buying an additional 1,595 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Sysco in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,813,000. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Sysco by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 545,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,691,000 after buying an additional 45,742 shares during the period. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $3,698,079.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,335,408. This represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Melius Research raised shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sysco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.77.

Sysco Price Performance

Sysco stock opened at $74.48 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.62. Sysco Co. has a 52 week low of $69.03 and a 52 week high of $82.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. Sysco had a net margin of 2.40% and a return on equity of 106.30%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

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

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.