Searle & CO. Purchases 5,400 Shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Searle & CO. lifted its position in shares of Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 300.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,400 shares during the period. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Cintas were worth $1,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CTAS. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cintas by 286.2% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,460 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 2,564 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Cintas by 290.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 21,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,445,000 after purchasing an additional 16,062 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in Cintas by 349.1% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,018 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 7,010 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in Cintas in the third quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in shares of Cintas by 300.0% in the third quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 510,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,170,000 after purchasing an additional 383,124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Cintas from $184.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on Cintas from $219.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on Cintas from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Cintas from $212.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Cintas in a report on Friday, August 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $167.50 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cintas presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $199.63.

Cintas Stock Down 0.8 %

CTAS traded down $1.77 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $209.77. The stock had a trading volume of 165,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,464,081. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.53. Cintas Co. has a twelve month low of $123.65 and a twelve month high of $215.37. The company has a market capitalization of $21.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.32.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The business services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.10. Cintas had a net margin of 16.80% and a return on equity of 39.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.70 EPS. Cintas’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Cintas Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Cintas announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.