GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 215,388 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 5,012.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 219,685 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 215,388 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Aramark worth $75,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARMK. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 93.0% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Aramark by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Aramark by 167.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aramark in the 4th quarter worth $72,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Aramark during the 4th quarter worth about $83,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ARMK. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.33.

Aramark Price Performance

ARMK traded down $0.62 during trading on Thursday, hitting $39.69. 1,508,111 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,016,429. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Aramark has a twelve month low of $29.92 and a twelve month high of $42.49. The company has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25 and a beta of 1.20.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th were issued a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. Aramark's payout ratio is 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.