Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Shares Acquired by Levin Capital Strategies L.P.

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 266.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,000 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.'s holdings in Aramark were worth $821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,329,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $322,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,430,131 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company's stock worth $608,619,000 after acquiring an additional 896,288 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Aramark during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $18,105,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 7.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its position in Aramark by 277.2% in the third quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,622,000 after buying an additional 144,625 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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Aramark Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ARMK traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $35.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,711,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,050,506. Aramark has a 1 year low of $29.82 and a 1 year high of $42.49. The firm has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23 and a beta of 1.64. 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 50 day moving average is $37.68 and its 200 day moving average is $38.12.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.105 per share. This is a boost from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. 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.