Martingale Asset Management L P Lowers Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Martingale Asset Management L P lessened its position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 17.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,008 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,319 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Sysco were worth $8,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SYY. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Sysco during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in Sysco by 1,240.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in Sysco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SYY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com lowered Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.77.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of SYY opened at $77.11 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.78 and a 200 day moving average of $74.79. Sysco Co. has a one year low of $69.03 and a one year high of $82.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.20.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $216,427.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total value of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This trade represents a 7.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.