15,971 Shares in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Acquired by Centiva Capital LP

Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 15,971 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $596,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Aramark by 63.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,593,734 shares of the company's stock worth $507,182,000 after buying an additional 5,263,817 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aramark during the fourth quarter worth about $88,949,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Aramark by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company's stock worth $317,551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940,214 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 11,454,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $427,376,000 after purchasing an additional 860,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Aramark by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,186,757 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,588,000 after buying an additional 420,528 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of Aramark stock traded down $0.40 on Wednesday, hitting $38.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,286,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,058,734. The company has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.65 and a beta of 1.20. Aramark has a 52-week low of $29.92 and a 52-week high of $42.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. Aramark's payout ratio is 32.31%.

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.