Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,570,938 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 441,711 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 2.49% of Aramark worth $254,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Aramark by 6.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $608,619,000 after purchasing an additional 896,288 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,430,131 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Aramark by 18.0% in 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aramark by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company's stock worth $169,028,000 after acquiring an additional 45,384 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARMK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Aramark from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $42.50 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aramark from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Aramark from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.59.

Aramark Stock Down 0.6 %

Aramark stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $40.17. 1,292,578 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,211,971. The company has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.58 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.22 and a 200-day moving average of $36.43. Aramark has a twelve month low of $27.05 and a twelve month high of $42.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

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

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.001 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.01%. Aramark's payout ratio is currently 42.42%.

Aramark Company 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.