Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Price Target Raised to $42.00 at Morgan Stanley

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $42.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price target suggests a potential upside of 7.66% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aramark has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.33.

Aramark Trading Up 1.7%

ARMK traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $39.01. 799,318 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,061,220. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.88. Aramark has a 52-week low of $29.92 and a 52-week high of $42.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.22 billion, a PE ratio of 30.71 and a beta of 1.20.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The company had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. Aramark's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aramark

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Aramark by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Aramark by 40,750.0% during the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 817 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Aramark by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Aramark by 167.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the period.

Aramark Company 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.