Rollins, Inc. $ROL Shares Purchased by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank raised its holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 17.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 57,214 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,331 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Rollins were worth $3,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Rollins by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Rollins by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 23,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 6,859 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 75.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 870 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Rollins by 6.6% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 11,663 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rollins news, Chairman John F. Wilson sold 1,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.40, for a total value of $90,288.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 607,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,090,667.80. This represents a 0.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 2,396 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.06, for a total value of $143,903.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 29,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,755,613.86. This represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,707 shares of company stock worth $515,664. 4.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Rollins in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Rollins from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $72.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays upgraded Rollins from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Rollins has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.92.

Rollins Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE ROL opened at $61.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.58 and a beta of 0.79. Rollins, Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.24 and a 52 week high of $61.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $59.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.03. Rollins had a net margin of 14.02% and a return on equity of 37.60%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Rollins’s payout ratio is presently 68.22%.

About Rollins

Rollins, Inc (NYSE: ROL) is a provider of pest and termite control services operating through a network of subsidiaries and franchises. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company offers a broad range of pest management solutions for both residential and commercial customers, positioning itself as a specialist in protecting property and public health from pests and vectors.

Its service offerings include general pest control, termite inspection and treatment, bed bug remediation, mosquito and vector control, wildlife exclusion, and related specialty services.