Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 32,366 Shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. trimmed its position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 161,760 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,366 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $12,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. Boston Partners grew its position in Sysco by 143.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184,754 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter valued at $450,441,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Sysco by 11.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,617,000 after buying an additional 2,721,449 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new stake in shares of Sysco during the fourth quarter worth about $123,928,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 4th quarter worth about $97,078,000. 83.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Sysco

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $3,698,079.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares in the company, valued at $4,335,408. This trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on SYY shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Sysco from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sysco has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of SYY opened at $74.10 on Friday. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $69.03 and a 1 year high of $82.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $72.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.15. The firm has a market cap of $36.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 earned $0.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

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.