Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,487 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,772 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Aramark were worth $2,406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in Aramark by 100.3% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Aramark by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 988 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Aramark by 75.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Aramark by 167.2% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Aramark by 62.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARMK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Aramark in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aramark presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.42.

Aramark Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of Aramark stock traded down $1.55 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $34.14. 3,753,214 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,019,317. 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 company has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.88 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.32 and a 200-day moving average of $38.08. Aramark has a 12 month low of $29.82 and a 12 month high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.105 dividend. This is a boost from Aramark's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. 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.