New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 123,199 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 20.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 489,574 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 123,199 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.10% of Rollins worth $24,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rollins during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Rollins in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Rollins by 43.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 774 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 10,233.3% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 930 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rollins by 114.2% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In related news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.49, for a total transaction of $236,545.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 84,653 shares in the company, valued at $4,274,129.97. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ROL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com lowered Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.80.

Rollins Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ROL opened at $47.33 on Monday. Rollins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.06 and a 1 year high of $51.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.30. The firm has a market cap of $22.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.30 and a beta of 0.70.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $916.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $911.15 million. Rollins had a return on equity of 38.67% and a net margin of 14.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Rollins’s payout ratio is 62.50%.

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.