Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 70,502 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,736,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,502 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 6.97% of Rollins worth $1,563,698,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ROL. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Rollins by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,275,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,821,000 after buying an additional 157,619 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 22.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,280,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,323,000 after acquiring an additional 420,399 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Rollins by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,251,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $104,347,000 after purchasing an additional 83,326 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,232,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $103,471,000 after purchasing an additional 164,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Rollins by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 1,739,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $88,004,000 after purchasing an additional 34,746 shares during the period. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rollins Stock Up 1.4 %

Rollins stock opened at $53.82 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $26.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.06 and a beta of 0.78. Rollins, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.72 and a twelve month high of $54.00.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Rollins had a return on equity of 37.94% and a net margin of 13.76%. As a group, analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total transaction of $171,194.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,866.20. This represents a 25.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total value of $99,469.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,131,937.94. This represents a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,338 shares of company stock valued at $945,882. 4.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Rollins Profile

Rollins, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides pest and wildlife control services to residential and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. The company offers pest control services to residential properties protecting from common pests, including rodents, insects, and wildlife.