Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,814,110 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $176,784,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.79% of Rollins at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Rollins by 2.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,275,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,821,000 after acquiring an additional 157,619 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Rollins by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,280,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $115,323,000 after purchasing an additional 420,399 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 3.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 8.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 164,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Rollins by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,176,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $100,860,000 after buying an additional 117,013 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on ROL shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total value of $99,469.38. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,131,937.94. The trade was a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total transaction of $171,194.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,338 shares of company stock valued at $945,882. Company insiders own 4.47% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Stock Down 1.4 %

ROL stock opened at $53.04 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $25.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.25 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Rollins, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.72 and a 12 month high of $54.00.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.75%.

Rollins Company 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.