Morgan Stanley Boosts Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Price Target to $40.00

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 3.44% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Aramark from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on Aramark from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aramark from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aramark has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.15.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of ARMK stock opened at $38.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a PE ratio of 29.52 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.11 and a 200-day moving average of $35.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Aramark has a one year low of $25.92 and a one year high of $42.04.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. Aramark had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 14.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Aramark

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Aramark by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,712,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $771,141,000 after buying an additional 98,506 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Aramark by 5.5% in the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 17,822,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,602,000 after acquiring an additional 923,683 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Aramark by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,391,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,501,000 after acquiring an additional 681,735 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Aramark by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,731,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,977,000 after purchasing an additional 720,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 822.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,677,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,073,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,737 shares during the period.

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.