Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Bought by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,746,871 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,210 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.66% of Aramark worth $65,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARMK. Silphium Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Aramark during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,866,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 266.7% during the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 22,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $821,000 after acquiring an additional 16,000 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aramark during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,070,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 53,654 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ARMK opened at $34.94 on Wednesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.51 and a beta of 1.60. The firm's 50-day moving average is $37.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.13. Aramark has a 1 year low of $29.82 and a 1 year high of $42.49.

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Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is a positive change from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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