Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 396,323 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL - Free Report) by 149.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 662,268 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 396,323 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.14% of Rollins worth $35,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rollins by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,557,923 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $395,819,000 after buying an additional 1,282,508 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Rollins by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,267,060 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $197,778,000 after acquiring an additional 617,876 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Rollins in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $176,784,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Rollins by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,046,844 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $141,221,000 after acquiring an additional 322,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 389.2% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,770,131 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $128,396,000 after buying an additional 2,203,859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company's stock.

Rollins Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROL traded down $0.48 on Friday, reaching $56.81. 1,780,577 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,757,639. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.18 and a beta of 0.77. Rollins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.34 and a fifty-two week high of $58.65. 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 business's 50-day moving average is $56.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.98.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. Rollins had a return on equity of 37.94% and a net margin of 13.76%. The business had revenue of $822.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $817.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Rollins's payout ratio is 66.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rollins news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.54, for a total value of $108,613.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,150,103.12. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman John F. Wilson sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.77, for a total value of $2,270,800.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 662,727 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,623,011.79. This represents a 5.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,842 shares of company stock worth $2,480,861. 4.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ROL. Barclays boosted their target price on Rollins from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Rollins from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $61.00 price objective on Rollins and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Rollins from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.38.

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.