Edgestream Partners L.P. Invests $970,000 in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 25,049 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $970,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Aramark by 70.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,329,917 shares of the company's stock worth $322,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,430,131 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Aramark by 18.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,731,963 shares of the company's stock worth $160,977,000 after acquiring an additional 720,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,661 shares of the company's stock worth $67,106,000 after acquiring an additional 14,839 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 822.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,677,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,073,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in Aramark by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 922,212 shares of the company's stock worth $31,374,000 after buying an additional 112,038 shares during the period.

Aramark Stock Performance

Aramark stock traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,861,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,217,532. Aramark has a one year low of $26.58 and a one year high of $42.49. The firm has a market cap of $10.98 billion, a PE ratio of 41.41 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.88 and a 200 day moving average of $35.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 1.51%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.001 dividend. This represents a $0.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARMK. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Aramark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aramark currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.23.

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.