Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Increases Stock Position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 63.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,593,734 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,263,817 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 5.13% of Aramark worth $507,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aramark by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,511,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940,214 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Aramark by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 382,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,281,000 after purchasing an additional 39,335 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Aramark by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 4,519 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Aramark during the 4th quarter valued at $3,337,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Aramark by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 33,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,260,000 after buying an additional 1,644 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Performance

NYSE ARMK opened at $35.11 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $36.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.88. The firm has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.65 and a beta of 1.60. Aramark has a twelve month low of $29.82 and a twelve month high of $42.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is 33.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARMK has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated 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 boosted their target price on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Aramark in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.42.

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.