B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Raises Holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its stake in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,992 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Rollins were worth $649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROL. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Rollins by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,023,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $93,778,000 after buying an additional 493,300 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,612 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $770,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in Rollins during the fourth quarter worth approximately $376,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in Rollins by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 5,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Rollins by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 9,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.83.

Rollins Stock Down 6.7 %

Shares of NYSE ROL opened at $52.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a PE ratio of 54.32 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Rollins, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.72 and a 12-month high of $56.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.46 and a 200 day moving average of $49.71.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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, sell-side analysts predict that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Rollins news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 13,193 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total transaction of $675,217.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,916,600.68. The trade was a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 41,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,131,937.94. This trade represents a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,338 shares of company stock valued at $945,882. 4.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.