JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 466,222 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its stake in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 38.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 735,317 shares of the company's stock after selling 466,222 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.28% of Aramark worth $27,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 75.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 167.2% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark during the 4th quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Aramark by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ARMK shares. StockNews.com downgraded Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Citigroup began coverage on Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.08.

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Aramark Price Performance

Shares of ARMK stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $33.14. 1,520,855 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,097,962. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $29.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49. 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $35.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.52. The company has a market cap of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09 and a beta of 1.37.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. The firm 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This is a boost from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Aramark's payout ratio is currently 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.