Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Purchases 78,533 Shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,570,635 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 78,533 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.64% of Cintas worth $469,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cintas during the fourth quarter worth about $877,216,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cintas by 264.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,279,029 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $693,503,000 after purchasing an additional 2,379,932 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Cintas by 137.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,222,527 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $457,574,000 after buying an additional 1,286,668 shares in the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Cintas during the fourth quarter worth $196,057,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 841,952 shares in the last quarter. 63.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Cintas

In other news, COO Jim Rozakis sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.37, for a total value of $380,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronald W. Tysoe sold 8,521 shares of Cintas stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.96, for a total value of $1,780,548.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,029 shares in the company, valued at $5,647,979.84. The trade was a 23.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 15.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CTAS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Cintas from $184.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Cintas from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Cintas from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Cintas from $195.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Cintas from $200.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $213.62.

Cintas Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CTAS traded down $0.51 on Wednesday, reaching $208.75. 239,357 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,692,932. Cintas Co. has a twelve month low of $162.16 and a twelve month high of $228.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $201.68 and a 200-day moving average of $204.36. The company has a market capitalization of $84.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.31, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Cintas's dividend payout ratio is 36.11%.

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.