Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 73,661 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL - Free Report) by 143.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,179 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 73,661 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Rollins were worth $5,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Rollins by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 721,467 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $36,491,000 after buying an additional 186,452 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Rollins in the 4th quarter worth approximately $225,000. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Rollins by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 5,405 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Rollins by 203.0% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 30,382 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,408,000 after buying an additional 20,354 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Rollins by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 15,373 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. 51.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROL has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Rollins and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Rollins from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Rollins from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Rollins from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total transaction of $99,469.38. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,131,937.94. This trade represents a 4.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction of $2,270,800.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 662,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,623,011.79. This trade represents a 5.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 48,987 shares of company stock worth $2,751,525. 4.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Rollins Price Performance

NYSE:ROL traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $57.25. The stock had a trading volume of 3,986,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,748,292. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Rollins, Inc. has a one year low of $45.25 and a one year high of $57.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.64 and a beta of 0.79.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The firm had revenue of $822.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $817.09 million. Rollins had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 37.94%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Rollins's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

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.