Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 18,071 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 294,483 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,071 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of Sysco worth $22,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SYY. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. acquired a new position in Sysco during the third quarter worth about $2,156,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $390,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Sysco by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its position in Sysco by 49.8% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 16,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 4.1% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,265,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,983,000 after buying an additional 168,163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.77.

Sysco Stock Down 1.3 %

SYY stock opened at $80.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.03 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.89. The company has a market cap of $39.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. Sysco’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 21,844 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $1,747,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,846,480. This represents a 26.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $519,920.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,279 shares of company stock worth $2,786,971 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.