United Asset Strategies Inc. Takes $896,000 Position in Rollins, Inc. $ROL

United Asset Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 15,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $896,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Rollins by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 266,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,377,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Rollins by 5.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Rollins by 100.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 659,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,652,000 after purchasing an additional 331,074 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 75.7% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 3,605 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Rollins during the first quarter worth $451,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rollins

In other Rollins news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 2,396 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.73, for a total transaction of $143,113.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,889,080.71. The trade was a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman John F. Wilson sold 1,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.40, for a total value of $90,288.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 607,587 shares in the company, valued at $36,090,667.80. This trade represents a 0.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,311 shares of company stock valued at $371,760. 4.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Rollins in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $66.00 price target on shares of Rollins and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Rollins from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $72.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $63.00 price objective on Rollins and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Rollins in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.92.

Rollins Stock Up 1.3%

ROL stock opened at $60.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.26 and a beta of 0.79. Rollins, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.77 and a 52 week high of $61.84. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.03. Rollins had a net margin of 14.02% and a return on equity of 37.60%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Rollins’s payout ratio is presently 68.22%.

About Rollins

Rollins, Inc (NYSE: ROL) is a provider of pest and termite control services operating through a network of subsidiaries and franchises. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company offers a broad range of pest management solutions for both residential and commercial customers, positioning itself as a specialist in protecting property and public health from pests and vectors.

Its service offerings include general pest control, termite inspection and treatment, bed bug remediation, mosquito and vector control, wildlife exclusion, and related specialty services.