Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Cuts Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 17.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,104,331 shares of the company's stock after selling 860,322 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 1.55% of Aramark worth $153,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 770 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Aramark by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 75.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 167.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Aramark in the 4th quarter valued at $83,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.08.

Aramark Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of ARMK traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $33.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,924,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,086,573. The company has a market capitalization of $8.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Aramark has a 12 month low of $29.82 and a 12 month high of $42.49.

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

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Aramark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.07%.

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.