Farallon Capital Management LLC Sells 226,597 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Farallon Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,410,340 shares of the company's stock after selling 226,597 shares during the period. Aramark comprises 2.2% of Farallon Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Farallon Capital Management LLC owned 4.30% of Aramark worth $425,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Aramark by 57.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,418 shares of the company's stock worth $7,336,000 after buying an additional 69,223 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Aramark by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company's stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the period. Sendero Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Aramark by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,611 shares of the company's stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 5,911 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in Aramark by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 259,364 shares of the company's stock worth $9,677,000 after purchasing an additional 35,616 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Aramark by 75.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARMK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aramark currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.33.

Aramark Stock Performance

ARMK stock traded down $0.28 on Wednesday, hitting $38.94. The company had a trading volume of 628,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,056,259. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.92 and a 12-month high of $42.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $34.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.91. The stock has a market cap of $10.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66 and a beta of 1.20.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Aramark's payout ratio is 32.31%.

Aramark Profile

Aramark provides food and facilities services to education, healthcare, business and industry, sports, leisure, and corrections clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Food and Support Services United States, and Food and Support Services International. The company offers food-related managed services, including dining, catering, food service management, and convenience-oriented retail services; non-clinical food and food-related support services, such as patient food and nutrition, retail food, environmental services, and procurement services; and plant operations and maintenance, custodial/housekeeping, energy management, grounds keeping, and capital project management services.