Banco Santander S.A. Buys 91,718 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Banco Santander S.A. lifted its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 43.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 304,999 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 91,718 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A. owned 0.12% of Aramark worth $11,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Inceptionr LLC raised its position in Aramark by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 48,802 shares of the company's stock worth $1,821,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Aramark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,979,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Aramark by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 72,635 shares of the company's stock worth $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Aramark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,070,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,746,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,176,000 after buying an additional 14,210 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ARMK. StockNews.com cut shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.42.

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Aramark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARMK traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $34.45. 2,336,663 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,041,128. The company's 50 day moving average is $37.52 and its 200 day moving average is $38.13. Aramark has a one year low of $29.82 and a one year high of $42.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business's revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. This is a positive change from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Aramark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.