California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 7,167 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,291,353 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,167 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Rollins were worth $59,854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Rollins by 54.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 173,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,725,000 after purchasing an additional 61,475 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 420,399 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Rollins by 136.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 265,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,327,000 after acquiring an additional 153,437 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Rollins during the 4th quarter worth approximately $262,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Rollins during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,054,000. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rollins

In other Rollins news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,131,937.94. This trade represents a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total transaction of $171,194.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,866.20. The trade was a 25.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,338 shares of company stock valued at $945,882 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROL has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group boosted 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. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Rollins Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Rollins stock opened at $54.32 on Wednesday. Rollins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.72 and a 52-week high of $54.43. The stock has a market cap of $26.35 billion, a PE ratio of 56.58 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.11 and a 200-day moving average of $49.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.