Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stock Position in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL - Free Report) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,968,374 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 448,242 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.41% of Rollins worth $91,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ROL. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Rollins by 54.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 173,943 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,725,000 after buying an additional 61,475 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Rollins by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,280,005 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $115,323,000 after purchasing an additional 420,399 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Rollins by 136.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 265,945 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,327,000 after purchasing an additional 153,437 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Rollins during the fourth quarter worth approximately $262,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in Rollins in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,054,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company's stock.

Rollins Stock Down 0.5 %

ROL stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.39. 1,206,290 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,713,534. The stock has a market cap of $26.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.69 and a beta of 0.80. Rollins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.72 and a fifty-two week high of $57.55. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $52.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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Rollins (NYSE:ROL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Rollins's payout ratio is 68.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ROL. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Rollins from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rollins presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 13,193 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total transaction of $675,217.74. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,916,600.68. This trade represents a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total value of $171,194.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $509,866.20. This represents a 25.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,259 shares of company stock worth $1,047,330 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.47% of the company's stock.

Rollins Company 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.