Prudential Financial Inc. Boosts Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 231.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 227,173 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 158,717 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.09% of Aramark worth $8,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Aramark by 6.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $608,619,000 after buying an additional 896,288 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new position in shares of Aramark in the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,105,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Aramark by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,497,580 shares of the company's stock worth $951,315,000 after purchasing an additional 178,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Aramark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,979,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARMK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup began coverage on Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aramark currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.42.

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Aramark Stock Performance

Aramark stock traded down $1.16 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $34.00. 1,782,954 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,089,804. Aramark has a 52-week low of $29.82 and a 52-week high of $42.49. The stock has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm's 50 day moving average is $36.46 and its 200 day moving average is $37.85.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Aramark had a net margin of 1.94% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.