Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 238,300 shares of the company's stock after selling 70,100 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.09% of Aramark worth $8,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARMK. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 57.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,418 shares of the company's stock worth $7,336,000 after purchasing an additional 69,223 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aramark during the third quarter worth about $309,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Aramark in the third quarter valued at about $761,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company's stock worth $254,427,000 after acquiring an additional 441,711 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Aramark by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:ARMK traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 795,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,078,815. 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 has a market cap of $8.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.95 and a beta of 1.37. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $34.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.14. Aramark has a twelve month low of $29.82 and a twelve month high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $4.55 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company 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 is a positive change from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Aramark's payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARMK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Aramark from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aramark has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.08.

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.