Appleton Partners Inc. MA Has $1.86 Million Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA cut its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,344 shares of the company’s stock after selling 317 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sysco by 1,240.0% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Sysco during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Sysco in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Sysco during the third quarter worth about $38,000. 83.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on SYY shares. Melius started coverage on Sysco in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Melius Research raised shares of Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sysco from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Sysco from $87.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.38.

Sysco Stock Down 0.2 %

SYY stock opened at $71.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.20. Sysco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.03 and a fifty-two week high of $82.33. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.92. The company has a market cap of $34.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.17.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93. Sysco had a return on equity of 106.30% and a net margin of 2.40%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Sysco Co. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. Sysco’s payout ratio is presently 52.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eve M. Mcfadden sold 6,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $519,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,876,080. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,335,408. This trade represents a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 79,270 shares of company stock worth $6,181,946 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.