Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,231 shares of the company’s stock after selling 950 shares during the quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its position in Sysco by 263.4% in the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 34,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,246,000 after buying an additional 24,650 shares during the last quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Sysco during the 4th quarter valued at about $20,057,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new stake in Sysco in the 4th quarter worth about $4,623,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Sysco by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 82,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,014,000 after purchasing an additional 23,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Sysco by 161.7% during the third quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 18,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,205,000 after buying an additional 11,269 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Sysco Price Performance

SYY stock traded down $1.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.55. The stock had a trading volume of 957,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,963,588. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $79.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.92. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $62.24 and a twelve month high of $82.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.00, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

Sysco Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $137,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.