Venturi Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,490 shares of the company’s stock after selling 449 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Aramark were worth $58,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Aramark by 54.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 29,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $964,000 after acquiring an additional 10,505 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Aramark by 36.3% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 4,265 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aramark in the 1st quarter valued at $245,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Aramark by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 93,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,043,000 after buying an additional 12,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in shares of Aramark by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 245,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,798,000 after buying an additional 15,080 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Aramark from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aramark from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Aramark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $36.00 to $39.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Aramark from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aramark has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.23.

Aramark Price Performance

ARMK stock opened at $37.36 on Friday. Aramark has a 52-week low of $26.58 and a 52-week high of $42.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a PE ratio of 37.74 and a beta of 1.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $38.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.20.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 11th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Analysts predict that Aramark will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Cuts Dividend

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

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.