Bessemer Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 88,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 748 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Rollins were worth $4,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 65.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 39,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 15,574 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Rollins by 17.5% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 8,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 1,269 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Rollins by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 721,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,491,000 after acquiring an additional 186,452 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rollins by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,275,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,821,000 after acquiring an additional 157,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rollins by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. 51.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ROL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Rollins from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.83.

Rollins Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROL opened at $55.30 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $26.82 billion, a PE ratio of 57.60 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.91 and its 200 day moving average is $49.80. Rollins, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.72 and a 52 week high of $56.26.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Rollins had a return on equity of 37.94% and a net margin of 13.76%. Research analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.75%.

Insider Transactions at Rollins

In other Rollins news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 13,193 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total transaction of $675,217.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,916,600.68. This represents a 14.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total transaction of $99,469.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,259 shares of company stock worth $1,047,330. Insiders own 4.47% 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.