Bridges Investment Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 261,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,641 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Rollins were worth $12,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ROL. Eastern Bank grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 50,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in Rollins by 1.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 13,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rollins by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 37,794 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its position in Rollins by 3.0% during the third quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 10,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Rollins by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Rollins from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Rollins Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of ROL opened at $52.40 on Friday. Rollins, Inc. has a one year low of $41.72 and a one year high of $52.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $48.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $25.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.58 and a beta of 0.76.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released its 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Rollins’s payout ratio is currently 68.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 13,193 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total value of $675,217.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,916,600.68. This trade represents a 14.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

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.