Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 441,711 Shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 7.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 441,711 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Aramark were worth $254,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Aramark by 6.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 15,714,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,619,000 after buying an additional 896,288 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Aramark by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,329,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,618,000 after acquiring an additional 3,430,131 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 valued at $160,977,000 after acquiring an additional 720,738 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aramark by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,028,000 after purchasing an additional 45,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Aramark by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,106,000 after purchasing an additional 14,839 shares during the last quarter.

Aramark Stock Performance

NYSE:ARMK opened at $40.17 on Friday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $27.05 and a fifty-two week high of $42.49. The firm has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a PE ratio of 40.58 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.39.

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

Aramark Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.001 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.01%. Aramark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Aramark from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aramark presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.59.

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.