ING Groep NV Trims Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

ING Groep NV trimmed its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 58.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 127,000 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in Aramark were worth $3,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Aramark by 100.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Aramark during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Aramark by 360.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 773 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP increased its holdings in Aramark by 32.0% during the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 1,424 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Aramark during the third quarter worth about $52,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ARMK. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Aramark from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $42.50 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aramark from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.23.

Aramark Price Performance

Aramark stock traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $37.36. 3,015,435 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,141,712. Aramark has a one year low of $26.58 and a one year high of $42.04. The stock has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.74 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.26.

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

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.001 dividend. This represents a $0.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.38%.

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.