Sone Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 22,465 Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Sone Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 22,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $838,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Aramark by 0.7% in 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. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Aramark by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,268,682 shares of the company's stock worth $606,986,000 after acquiring an additional 554,239 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Aramark by 63.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,593,734 shares of the company's stock worth $507,182,000 after acquiring an additional 5,263,817 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI lifted its holdings in Aramark by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 11,454,740 shares of the company's stock worth $427,376,000 after acquiring an additional 860,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $317,551,000 after buying an additional 1,940,214 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ARMK. UBS Group lifted their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.33.

Aramark Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:ARMK traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,287,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,035,391. The company has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.83 and a beta of 1.20. Aramark has a one year low of $29.92 and a one year high of $42.49. The business's 50-day moving average is $34.78 and its 200-day moving average is $36.97. 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 (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.35 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. Aramark's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.