Merit Financial Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY)

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its position in shares of Sysco Co. (NYSE:SYY) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,884 shares of the company’s stock after selling 269 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Sysco were worth $357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SYY. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Sysco by 74.0% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Sysco in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sysco in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sysco in the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sysco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. 83.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sysco

In other news, CAO Neil Russell sold 1,722 shares of Sysco stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $137,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,926,560. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sysco Price Performance

SYY opened at $74.62 on Thursday. Sysco Co. has a 52-week low of $62.24 and a 52-week high of $82.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.16.

Sysco (NYSE:SYY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.01. Sysco had a net margin of 2.66% and a return on equity of 99.88%. The company had revenue of $19.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Sysco Co. will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Sysco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This is an increase from Sysco’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. Sysco’s payout ratio is 49.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SYY. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Sysco from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Sysco from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sysco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sysco from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.56.

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.