Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $375,000 Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lowered its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,046 shares of the company’s stock after selling 606 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Aramark were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aramark by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 83,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,128,000 after purchasing an additional 14,096 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aramark by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 700,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,123,000 after acquiring an additional 52,324 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Aramark by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,186,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,588,000 after acquiring an additional 420,528 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aramark during the fourth quarter worth $2,118,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aramark during the fourth quarter worth $4,177,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup assumed coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Aramark from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.33.

Aramark Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE ARMK opened at $38.92 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.91. The company has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65 and a beta of 1.20. 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 $29.92 and a 12 month high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The company had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.31%.

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.