Korea Investment CORP Has $5.87 Million Holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 151.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 126,696 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 76,379 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Rollins were worth $5,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 54.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 173,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,725,000 after purchasing an additional 61,475 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Rollins by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,280,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,323,000 after buying an additional 420,399 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Rollins by 136.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 265,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,327,000 after buying an additional 153,437 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rollins in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Rollins during the fourth quarter worth $1,054,000. 51.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rollins Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE:ROL opened at $54.06 on Tuesday. Rollins, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.72 and a twelve month high of $54.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.31 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.59.

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

Rollins Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ROL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Rollins presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rollins news, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total transaction of $171,194.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,866.20. This trade represents a 25.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,338 shares of company stock worth $945,882. Company insiders own 4.47% of the company’s stock.

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.