Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) Shares Sold by Cetera Advisor Networks LLC

Cetera Advisor Networks LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 321,639 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,616 shares during the quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC’s holdings in Rollins were worth $13,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Rollins by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,485,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $893,283,000 after acquiring an additional 384,126 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 1.5% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 12,922,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $484,974,000 after buying an additional 189,977 shares in the last quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 3.4% in the second quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 3,513,798 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $150,496,000 after buying an additional 113,949 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 78.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,221,759 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $117,723,000 after buying an additional 1,419,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 0.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,133,825 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,840,000 after buying an additional 28,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rollins news, major shareholder Randall Rollins Voting Trus R. sold 44,509,814 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.39, for a total transaction of $1,530,692,503.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 164,581,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,659,956,031.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Randall Rollins Voting Trus R. sold 44,509,814 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.39, for a total transaction of $1,530,692,503.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 164,581,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,659,956,031.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Paul Russell Hardin bought 5,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $36.00 per share, with a total value of $200,160.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,372. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROL has been the subject of a number of research reports. TheStreet cut Rollins from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Rollins in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised Rollins from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.20.

Rollins Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ROL opened at $39.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.76. Rollins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.19 and a 1 year high of $45.04.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The business services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.03. Rollins had a return on equity of 33.81% and a net margin of 13.77%. The business had revenue of $840.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 10th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 9th. Rollins’s payout ratio is presently 72.29%.

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.