Boston Trust Walden Corp Acquires 516,585 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 179.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 804,345 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 516,585 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned 0.16% of Sysco worth $61,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Sysco by 11.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,617,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721,449 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Sysco by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,874,000 after acquiring an additional 672,940 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Sysco by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,796,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,410,000 after purchasing an additional 422,954 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its position in Sysco by 8.5% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 4,790,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,789,000 after purchasing an additional 375,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 4.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,265,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,983,000 after purchasing an additional 168,163 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Sysco in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on Sysco in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.85.

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of SYY opened at $72.79 on Monday. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.03 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.02. The stock has a market cap of $35.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.93. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sysco news, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $3,698,079.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,335,408. The trade was a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,270 shares of company stock worth $6,181,946 in the last quarter. Corporate 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.