Blue Trust Inc. Cuts Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Blue Trust Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 29.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,906 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,201 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fortem Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sysco by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 3,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC raised its stake in shares of Sysco by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 3.9% during the third quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 4,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Sysco by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, L.M. Kohn & Company lifted its holdings in Sysco by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 7,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In related news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $519,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,876,080. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $1,747,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 60,581 shares in the company, valued at $4,846,480. This represents a 26.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 79,270 shares of company stock valued at $6,181,946. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SYY. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Sysco in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.38.

Sysco Stock Performance

SYY stock opened at $71.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.84. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $69.03 and a 12-month high of $82.33. 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 (NYSE:SYY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (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 firm posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.