Jones Financial Companies Lllp Boosts Stock Position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 169.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,672 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Rollins were worth $123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 14.0% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 9,397,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $465,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,722 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 2.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,275,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $366,821,000 after purchasing an additional 157,619 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 22.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,280,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,323,000 after purchasing an additional 420,399 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Rollins by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,232,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $103,471,000 after buying an additional 164,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Rollins by 1.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,167,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,655,000 after buying an additional 31,458 shares in the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In related news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 13,193 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total transaction of $675,217.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,916,600.68. This trade represents a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total transaction of $99,469.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 41,173 shares in the company, valued at $2,131,937.94. This represents a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,338 shares of company stock valued at $945,882 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROL opened at $51.44 on Friday. Rollins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.72 and a fifty-two week high of $53.72. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.42. The company has a market capitalization of $24.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.59 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.69.

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

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROL. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.00.

About Rollins

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.