Traynor Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS)

Traynor Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Cintas Co. (NASDAQ:CTAS) by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 374 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Traynor Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cintas were worth $262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CTAS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cintas by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,299,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,206,969,000 after purchasing an additional 112,361 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cintas during the fourth quarter worth $872,895,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Cintas by 3.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 806,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $554,000,000 after acquiring an additional 27,470 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cintas by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 726,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $437,842,000 after acquiring an additional 15,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Cintas by 6.3% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 638,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $438,402,000 after acquiring an additional 37,727 shares during the last quarter. 63.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CTAS. StockNews.com raised shares of Cintas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Cintas in a research note on Friday, August 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $670.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Cintas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $725.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Baird R W lowered Cintas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Cintas from $790.00 to $874.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $742.36.

Cintas Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ CTAS traded up $3.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $788.50. The stock had a trading volume of 257,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 372,748. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $738.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $686.24. The company has a market capitalization of $80.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.45, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 1.31. Cintas Co. has a 1-year low of $474.74 and a 1-year high of $791.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Shares of Cintas are scheduled to split on Thursday, September 12th. The 4-1 split was announced on Thursday, May 2nd. The newly issued shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Wednesday, September 11th.

Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The business services provider reported $3.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.47 billion. Cintas had a return on equity of 37.82% and a net margin of 16.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Cintas Co. will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Cintas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This is an increase from Cintas’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. This represents a $6.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Cintas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.09%.

Cintas declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cintas

In related news, Director Gerald S. Adolph sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $765.72, for a total value of $842,292.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,083,425.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 15.10% of the company’s stock.

Cintas 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.