Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Lowers Stock Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership trimmed its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 431,532 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,196 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.16% of Aramark worth $16,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Aramark by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,619,000 after acquiring an additional 896,288 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new position in Aramark in the third quarter worth about $18,105,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 7.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,427,000 after buying an additional 441,711 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 178,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Aramark by 231.9% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 227,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,487,000 after buying an additional 158,717 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Down 0.6 %

ARMK stock opened at $34.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.95. Aramark has a 12 month low of $29.82 and a 12 month high of $42.49. The company has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.90 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ARMK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aramark presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.42.

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.