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

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,811 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,934 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Aramark were worth $1,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ARMK. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 57.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,336,000 after acquiring an additional 69,223 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 5.5% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 16,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aramark in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $309,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Aramark in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $761,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Aramark Trading Down 0.2 %

Aramark stock opened at $32.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68 and a beta of 1.37. Aramark has a 12 month low of $29.82 and a 12 month high of $42.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.45. 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 (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.07%.

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.