Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 2,442 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 9.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,754 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,442 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Aramark were worth $881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Aramark Stock Up 1.2 %

ARMK stock opened at $37.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.27 and a 200-day moving average of $35.33. Aramark has a fifty-two week low of $26.58 and a fifty-two week high of $42.04. The company has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.08 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. Aramark had a net margin of 1.51% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.001 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.01%. Aramark’s payout ratio is 38.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ARMK shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Aramark from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Aramark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.23.

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.