Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) Shares Acquired by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) by 465.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,291 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 52,929 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Cintas were worth $11,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CTAS. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cintas by 340.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,089,535 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $224,312,000 after purchasing an additional 841,952 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Cintas by 301.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 503,522 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $103,665,000 after purchasing an additional 378,101 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Cintas by 137.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,222,527 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $457,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,668 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its position in Cintas by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 105,032 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $19,189,000 after purchasing an additional 15,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its position in Cintas by 292.7% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,482 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 4,086 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Cintas in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Cintas from $200.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Cintas from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Cintas in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $161.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus raised Cintas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $213.88.

Cintas Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ CTAS traded down $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $214.79. 965,220 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,701,465. The business's 50-day moving average price is $202.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.37. Cintas Co. has a twelve month low of $164.93 and a twelve month high of $228.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $86.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.09.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.08. Cintas had a return on equity of 40.62% and a net margin of 17.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.84 EPS. Cintas's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cintas Co. will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Cintas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cintas

In other news, COO Jim Rozakis sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.37, for a total value of $380,740.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 256,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,835,235.36. This represents a 0.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 8,521 shares of Cintas stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.96, for a total transaction of $1,780,548.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,647,979.84. This represents a 23.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Cintas

Cintas Corporation engages in the provision of corporate identity uniforms and related business services primarily in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Uniform Rental and Facility Services, First Aid and Safety Services, and All Other segments. The company rents and services uniforms and other garments, including flame resistant clothing, mats, mops and shop towels, and other ancillary items; and provides restroom cleaning services and supplies, as well as sells uniforms.