Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) Shares Sold by Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.

Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,078 shares of the company’s stock after selling 335 shares during the period. Sysco comprises approximately 1.1% of Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Sysco were worth $1,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SYY. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Sysco by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,519,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,703,775,000 after buying an additional 429,711 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Sysco by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,294,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,617,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721,449 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Sysco by 143.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,184,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,184,754 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sysco by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,206,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,046,000 after purchasing an additional 521,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Sysco by 4.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,265,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,983,000 after purchasing an additional 168,163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $3,698,079.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SYY. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Sysco in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Sysco from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Sysco from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Melius Research upgraded Sysco to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Sysco from $86.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.77.

Sysco Stock Performance

NYSE:SYY opened at $72.74 on Thursday. Sysco Co. has a twelve month low of $69.03 and a twelve month high of $82.33. The company has a market capitalization of $35.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.19.

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

Sysco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Sysco’s payout ratio is currently 52.44%.

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.