73,300 Shares in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 73,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,060,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARMK. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Aramark by 102.9% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 24,774,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $886,923,000 after acquiring an additional 12,562,434 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Aramark by 1,042.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,850,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $531,228,000 after acquiring an additional 11,725,727 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Aramark by 63.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,929,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,866,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074,389 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aramark during the 4th quarter worth about $95,987,000. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Aramark during the 1st quarter worth about $71,600,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aramark from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Aramark from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Aramark in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Aramark in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.04.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARMK opened at $31.15 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.90. The company has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.48. Aramark has a 12 month low of $23.95 and a 12 month high of $33.04.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.29 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 3.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a $0.095 dividend. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.90%.

Aramark Company 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.