Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Acquired by Empirical Asset Management LLC

Empirical Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY - Free Report) by 895.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,563 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 49,983 shares during the quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC's holdings in Sysco were worth $4,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sysco by 1,240.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 335 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Sysco in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in Sysco in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Sysco during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Sysco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 83.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sysco news, EVP Greg D. Bertrand sold 48,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $3,698,079.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,335,408. This represents a 46.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheila Talton sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $216,427.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $966,831.65. This trade represents a 18.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,306 shares of company stock worth $6,485,050 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Sysco Price Performance

Shares of Sysco stock traded down $0.21 on Friday, hitting $73.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,555,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,331,949. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.38, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.26. Sysco Co. has a 1 year low of $69.03 and a 1 year high of $82.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $76.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.75. The company has a market capitalization of $35.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.18.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.04). Sysco had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 101.04%. The business had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sysco Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sysco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Sysco's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

Sysco 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.