Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) Shares Sold by Covea Finance

Covea Finance reduced its stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL - Free Report) by 23.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 503,351 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 152,000 shares during the quarter. Rollins makes up approximately 1.2% of Covea Finance's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Covea Finance owned about 0.10% of Rollins worth $27,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Rollins in the fourth quarter worth approximately $176,784,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Rollins by 389.2% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,770,131 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $128,396,000 after purchasing an additional 2,203,859 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Rollins during the 4th quarter worth $81,747,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rollins during the 4th quarter worth $74,249,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Rollins by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,557,923 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $395,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,508 shares during the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on ROL shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rollins from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Rollins from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rollins from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus assumed coverage on shares of Rollins in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Rollins from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.56.

Rollins Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:ROL traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $56.45. The company had a trading volume of 3,411,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,759,631. Rollins, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.34 and a 12-month high of $58.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.02 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $56.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.26.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22. The company had revenue of $822.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $817.09 million. Rollins had a return on equity of 37.31% and a net margin of 13.78%. Rollins's revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Rollins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In other Rollins news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.81, for a total value of $101,448.01. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,093,388.40. This represents a 4.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman John F. Wilson sold 40,000 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.77, for a total transaction of $2,270,800.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 662,727 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,623,011.79. This trade represents a 5.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,842 shares of company stock valued at $2,480,861 over the last 90 days. 4.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.