LPL Financial LLC Purchases 9,934 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 23.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,811 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,934 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Aramark were worth $1,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARMK. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Aramark by 2.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Aramark by 57.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,418 shares of the company's stock worth $7,336,000 after purchasing an additional 69,223 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Aramark by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 16,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aramark during the 3rd quarter valued at about $309,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Aramark in the third quarter worth about $761,000.

Aramark Stock Performance

ARMK traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $32.18. The company had a trading volume of 958,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,085,671. The business has a 50-day moving average of $34.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.31. 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 has a 1 year low of $29.82 and a 1 year high of $42.49. The company has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.33 and a beta of 1.37.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARMK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup began coverage on Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aramark currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.08.

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.