Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,242,568 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,831 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Sysco worth $100,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at about $683,599,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at about $450,794,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 132.9% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,653,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084,501 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco during the fourth quarter valued at about $227,241,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,036,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,029,000 after acquiring an additional 240,671 shares in the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Sysco from $92.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Sysco from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Sysco from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Sysco from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued 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 $84.90.

Sysco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYY opened at $70.05 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $73.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.36. Sysco Co. has a 52-week low of $62.24 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.18.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. Sysco had a net margin of 2.66% and a return on equity of 99.88%. The firm had revenue of $19.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Sysco’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is a positive change from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.78%.

About Sysco

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.