Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Key Points

• Cerity Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Aramark by 53.3% during the first quarter, now owning 9,970 shares valued at $344,000 after selling 11,359 shares.
• Multiple hedge funds, including HighTower Advisors LLC and LPL Financial LLC, increased their stakes, with Prudential Financial Inc. boosting its investment by a substantial 231.9%.
• Analysts generally hold a positive outlook on Aramark, with ten analysts rating it as a buy and a consensus price target of $43.91.

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 53.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,970 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,359 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Aramark were worth $344,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,067 shares of the company's stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 52,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 9,934 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Aramark by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,497,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $951,315,000 after purchasing an additional 178,147 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in Aramark by 231.9% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 227,173 shares of the company's stock worth $8,487,000 after buying an additional 158,717 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Aramark in the 4th quarter worth $88,949,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aramark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.91.

Aramark Stock Performance

ARMK opened at $43.83 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. Aramark has a twelve month low of $29.92 and a twelve month high of $44.49. The business's 50 day moving average is $41.32 and its 200-day moving average is $37.77. The stock has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a PE ratio of 33.72 and a beta of 1.28.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 15.07% and a net margin of 1.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be paid a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.31%.

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.

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