Sysco (SYY) Stock Buybacks: 28.7% of Shares Retired Since 2001

Name: Sysco (SYY) shares outstanding since 1999, split adjusted
Creator: Buyback Radar
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Shares outstanding, 1999 to todaysplit adjusted, from SEC filings

1999, 659,452,6862026-08-04, 479,096,016

A share bought in 1999

1.4× more of Sysco today, without buying another share. It was one of 659,452,686 shares then. It is one of 479,096,016 now.

Every filing we read28 fiscal years, split adjusted

Fiscal year	Date	Shares outstanding	Filing
1999	1999-09-10	659,452,686	10-K	cover page
2000	2000-09-08	667,755,758	10-K	cover page
2001	2001-09-14	672,081,874	10-K	cover page
2002	2002-09-10	657,722,693	10-K	cover page
2003	2003-09-09	648,520,955	10-K	cover page
2004	2004-08-28	639,345,528	10-K	cover page
2005	2005-08-27	626,984,757	10-K	cover page
2006	2006-08-26	619,613,777	10-K	cover page
2007	2007-08-15	609,972,298	10-K	cover page
2008	2008-08-13	601,993,798	10-K	cover page
2009	2009-08-12	591,015,830	10-K	cover page
2010	2010-08-18	588,379,521	10-K
2011	2011-08-17	592,697,484	10-K
2012	2012-08-15	586,604,951	10-K
2013	2013-08-14	588,347,435	10-K
2014	2014-08-13	586,765,938	10-K
2015	2015-08-13	594,917,977	10-K
2016	2016-08-12	555,133,162	10-K
2017	2017-08-11	527,881,766	10-K
2018	2018-08-10	519,774,992	10-K
2019	2019-08-09	513,176,946	10-K
2020	2020-08-07	508,535,623	10-K
2021	2021-08-10	512,081,796	10-K
2022	2022-08-09	506,110,343	10-K
2023	2023-08-08	504,925,847	10-K
2024	2024-08-16	491,520,584	10-K
2025	2025-08-05	478,212,357	10-K
2026	2026-08-04	479,096,016	10-K	cover page

Source: all 10-K filings of Sysco on EDGAR. Download this series as CSV. Licence CC BY 4.0, credit Buyback Radar.

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Sysco buybacks, answered

Is Sysco buying back its stock?

Only enough to stand still. The share count is roughly flat over the last twelve months, at 479,096,016 as of August 4, 2026. Over five years the share count is down 6.5%.

How many shares has Sysco bought back?

Net of every new share it issued, Sysco has 193.0 million fewer shares than at its 2001 peak. That is 28.7% of the company.

How many shares does Sysco have outstanding?

479,096,016 shares, as of August 4, 2026, from the cover page of its latest 10-K. At the 2001 peak it had 672,081,874.

What do Sysco's buybacks mean for a shareholder?

Each share is a bigger slice of the company. Someone who held Sysco stock in 2001 owns 1.4 times as much of the business today without buying another share. Whether that was a good use of cash depends on the price paid.

How does Sysco compare with other cannibal stocks?

Sysco ranks No. 181 of 251 companies on Buyback Radar by share of the company retired since its peak. Close to it on the list: Cigna (29.0%), LPL Financial (28.9%), Archer-Daniels-Midland (28.7%), Armstrong World Industries (28.4%).

Every answer is computed from Sysco's own SEC filings and rebuilt every Monday. Latest count: 10-K on EDGAR.

Superinvestors who own it

Bill NygrenHarris Associates16,292,380 shares, $1.4B, Q2 2026

Tom GaynerMarkel Group30,500 shares, $2.5M, Q2 2026

Donald YacktmanYacktman Asset Management1,293,545 shares, $108.1M, Q2 2026

Dan LoebThird Point580,000 shares, $48.2M, Q2 2026

From the latest 13F filings. All superinvestors.

Insider buying, last 12 months

Hinshaw John MDirector2026-05-26, 13,304 shares at $75.17 $1.0M total

The story

The numbers say what happened. The story says whether it can continue. We cover companies like Sysco in depth on Cannibal Stocks.

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