Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Purchases Shares of 2,996 Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Sysco by 15.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,237,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,562,000 after acquiring an additional 166,798 shares in the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Sysco by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 131,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,254,000 after purchasing an additional 14,810 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Sysco by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 78,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,115,000 after purchasing an additional 17,587 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sysco by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,685,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,874,000 after purchasing an additional 672,940 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Sysco by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 124,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,706,000 after buying an additional 8,891 shares in the last quarter. 83.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Melius started coverage on shares of Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Melius Research raised Sysco to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sysco from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 56,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,335,408. This trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 4,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $303,103.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,638,670.10. This trade represents a 7.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,306 shares of company stock worth $6,485,050 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Sysco Price Performance

Sysco stock opened at $73.02 on Monday. Sysco Co. has a 12-month low of $69.03 and a 12-month high of $82.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $76.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.18.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $20.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. Sysco had a return on equity of 101.04% and a net margin of 2.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.