Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Sold by Levin Capital Strategies L.P.

Key Points

• Levin Capital Strategies L.P. has sold 10,200 shares of Aramark, reducing its holdings by 46.4%, leaving it with 11,800 shares valued at approximately $407,000.
• In recent analyst updates, Morgan Stanley raised its target price for Aramark shares from $42.00 to $44.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating, while Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from "hold" to "buy."
• Aramark recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.105 per share, which yields 1.0%, indicating a payout ratio of 32.31% for the company.

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lowered its position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 46.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,800 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,200 shares during the quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.'s holdings in Aramark were worth $407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARMK. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 40,750.0% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 817 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 93.0% in 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 period. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aramark in the 4th quarter valued at about $72,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 82.6% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,472 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,859 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ARMK. Robert W. Baird upgraded Aramark from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Aramark from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Baird R W upgraded Aramark from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.44.

Aramark Price Performance

Shares of ARMK stock traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.62. The company had a trading volume of 3,825,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,893,484. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.71 and a 200-day moving average of $38.00. The company has a market capitalization of $10.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 1.33. Aramark has a 12-month low of $29.92 and a 12-month high of $44.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.66 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 15.67% and a net margin of 2.02%. The business's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.11%.

Aramark 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.