Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) Shares Sold by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC trimmed its stake in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 138 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Cintas were worth $2,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Cintas by 299.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,555,558 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,996,697,000 after purchasing an additional 10,910,285 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cintas by 297.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,132 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,807,860,000 after buying an additional 6,571,128 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cintas by 309.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,248,271 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,693,654,000 after buying an additional 6,235,052 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cintas by 264.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,279,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $693,503,000 after buying an additional 2,379,932 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cintas by 308.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,522,921 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $519,419,000 after buying an additional 1,904,926 shares during the period. 63.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Cintas from $185.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Cintas from $240.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Cintas from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Cintas from $236.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Cintas from $191.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cintas currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $198.46.

Cintas Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CTAS opened at $202.06 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $198.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.12. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $150.70 and a 12-month high of $228.12. The company has a market cap of $81.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.38.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Cintas had a return on equity of 40.62% and a net margin of 17.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.61 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Cintas Co. will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cintas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Cintas’s payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

Cintas Company Profile

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.