Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Given New $42.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.43% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.33.

Aramark Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:ARMK traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $38.38. The company had a trading volume of 2,137,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,070,891. Aramark has a 1 year low of $29.92 and a 1 year high of $42.49. The company has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.22 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.02 and a 200 day moving average of $36.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. Aramark's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARMK. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Aramark by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 53,654 shares of the company's stock worth $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Aramark by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,012 shares of the company's stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Aramark by 1.7% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 26,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter.

About Aramark

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.