Morgan Stanley Boosts Rollins (NYSE:ROL) Price Target to $48.00

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) had its price target raised by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $46.00 to $48.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential downside of 1.58% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on ROL. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Rollins has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.67.

Rollins Price Performance

NYSE:ROL opened at $48.77 on Thursday. Rollins has a one year low of $40.41 and a one year high of $52.16. The stock has a market cap of $23.62 billion, a PE ratio of 50.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.15.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). Rollins had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The company had revenue of $916.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $911.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Rollins will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rollins

In other Rollins news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.49, for a total value of $236,545.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 84,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,274,129.97. The trade was a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $735,730.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 124,214 shares in the company, valued at $6,195,794.32. This represents a 10.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rollins

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Rollins during the 1st quarter worth $319,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 4.7% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,547 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 42.5% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,506 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $610,000 after buying an additional 3,731 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Rollins by 185.0% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 384,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,781,000 after acquiring an additional 249,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Rollins by 114.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

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.