State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 2,801 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,269 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,801 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Aramark were worth $3,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARMK. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Aramark by 3.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Aramark by 100.3% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Aramark by 75.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in Aramark by 0.3% during the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 213,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,260,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter.

Aramark Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of ARMK opened at $36.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $38.08 and a 200 day moving average of $37.99. Aramark has a 1-year low of $29.78 and a 1-year high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. Aramark’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.105 dividend. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Aramark’s payout ratio is presently 33.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARMK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

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.