Montanaro Asset Management Ltd Buys 8,000 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 256,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Rollins accounts for about 2.4% of Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd owned 0.05% of Rollins worth $11,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Rollins in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Rollins during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Rollins during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Rollins by 4,272.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 787 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Rollins by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 890 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Stock Up 1.3 %

ROL stock opened at $53.03 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $25.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.24 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.69. The business’s 50-day moving average is $50.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.52. Rollins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.72 and a fifty-two week high of $53.72.

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

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Rollins’s payout ratio is 68.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total transaction of $171,194.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,866.20. The trade was a 25.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,131,937.94. This represents a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,338 shares of company stock valued at $945,882 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.69% 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.