Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Reduces Holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 247,399 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,149 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Rollins were worth $11,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Rollins during the 4th quarter valued at $8,734,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Rollins in the fourth quarter valued at about $176,784,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new position in shares of Rollins during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,259,000. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 2,176,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $100,860,000 after purchasing an additional 117,013 shares during the period. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 11,183 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 2,483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on ROL shares. StockNews.com lowered Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Rollins from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rollins has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Rollins Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ROL opened at $54.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $26.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.05 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Rollins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.72 and a 1 year high of $54.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.24 and a 200 day moving average of $49.65.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 37.94% and a net margin of 13.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total value of $99,469.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,173 shares in the company, valued at $2,131,937.94. The trade was a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $675,217.74. Following the sale, the insider now owns 76,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,916,600.68. This represents a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,338 shares of company stock worth $945,882 in the last quarter. Corporate 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.