California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Holdings in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 941,181 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,831 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.19% of Sysco worth $68,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in Sysco by 74.0% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 374 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sysco by 74.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 419 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, AllSquare Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of Sysco stock opened at $77.07 on Friday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $62.24 and a fifty-two week high of $82.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.68. The company has a market cap of $38.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.15.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. Sysco had a net margin of 2.69% and a return on equity of 105.22%. The company had revenue of $19.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SYY. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report 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, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sysco currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.38.

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.