ING Groep NV Sells 127,000 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

ING Groep NV reduced its holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 58.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 89,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 127,000 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Aramark were worth $3,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Huntington National Bank increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Aramark by 18.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Aramark by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 2,406 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 35,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,364,000 after purchasing an additional 6,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp raised its holdings in Aramark by 7.1% during the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 12,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of ARMK opened at $37.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.74 and a beta of 1.62. Aramark has a 1 year low of $26.58 and a 1 year high of $42.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.001 dividend. This represents a $0.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Aramark from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $36.00 to $42.50 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Aramark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.23.

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.