Sei Investments Co. Sells 64,144 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Sei Investments Co. reduced its position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 42.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 86,093 shares of the company's stock after selling 64,144 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.'s holdings in Aramark were worth $3,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised 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 last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Aramark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,979,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Aramark by 899.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 105,372 shares of the company's stock worth $3,931,000 after purchasing an additional 94,825 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 304,999 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,380,000 after purchasing an additional 91,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 908,922 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,912,000 after buying an additional 70,641 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ARMK. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.42.

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Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARMK traded down $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.36. 3,811,472 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,098,383. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.76 and a 200-day moving average of $37.63. Aramark has a 52-week low of $29.82 and a 52-week high of $42.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.91 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.105 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. This is an increase from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.07%.

Aramark 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.