HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 16,040 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 16,040 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Rollins were worth $1,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Centiva Capital LP increased its stake in Rollins by 497.9% in the third quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 37,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 31,086 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 204.0% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 14,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 9,965 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in shares of Rollins in the 3rd quarter valued at $988,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Rollins during the 3rd quarter worth $1,257,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Rollins by 4,272.2% during the 3rd 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. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ROL. StockNews.com cut Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Rollins from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.67.

Rollins Price Performance

NYSE:ROL opened at $48.77 on Monday. Rollins, Inc. has a one year low of $40.41 and a one year high of $52.16. 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 company has a market cap of $23.62 billion, a PE ratio of 50.80 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.19.

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

Rollins Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Rollins’s payout ratio is 68.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.49, for a total transaction of $236,545.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 84,653 shares in the company, valued at $4,274,129.97. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total transaction of $735,730.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 124,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,195,794.32. This represents a 10.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

Rollins 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.