Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Sold by Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,021 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,443 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Sysco by 11.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,859,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076,287 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Sysco by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,909,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,254,000 after buying an additional 161,756 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sysco by 70,686.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,967,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $532,666,000 after acquiring an additional 6,957,665 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Sysco by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,819,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,318,000 after acquiring an additional 310,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Sysco by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,459,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666,008 shares during the period. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Stephens boosted their price target on Sysco from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.38.

Insider Activity at Sysco

In other Sysco news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $137,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,926,560. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of SYY opened at $75.44 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.23. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $62.24 and a one year high of $82.89. The company has a market capitalization of $37.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. Sysco had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 105.22%. The firm had revenue of $19.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.90%.

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.