Sterling Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD)

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD - Free Report) by 46.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,296 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,843 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in US Foods were worth $1,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of USFD. Norges Bank bought a new stake in US Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,300,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of US Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $171,107,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in US Foods during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,611,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in US Foods by 307.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 639,558 shares of the company's stock worth $43,145,000 after acquiring an additional 482,461 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in US Foods by 240.4% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 612,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,286,000 after acquiring an additional 432,200 shares in the last quarter. 98.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

US Foods Price Performance

Shares of USFD traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.24. 1,442,751 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,982,004. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.31 and a 200-day moving average of $66.62. The firm has a market cap of $14.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.81, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.38. US Foods Holding Corp. has a one year low of $49.71 and a one year high of $73.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). US Foods had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 15.03%. The firm had revenue of $9.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.47 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that US Foods Holding Corp. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USFD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of US Foods from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on US Foods from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on US Foods from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered US Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of US Foods in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, US Foods has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at US Foods

In related news, Director David W. Bullock acquired 4,000 shares of US Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $71.06 per share, with a total value of $284,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $319,770. This represents a 800.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

US Foods Profile

US Foods Holding Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in marketing, sale, and distribution of fresh, frozen, and dry food and non-food products to foodservice customers in the United States. The company's customers include independently owned single and multi-unit restaurants, regional concepts, national restaurant chains, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels and motels, country clubs, government and military organizations, colleges and universities, and retail locations.