Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 1,263 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,263 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Rollins were worth $294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Rollins by 45.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 33,310 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,685,000 after acquiring an additional 10,393 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 34,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,761,000 after purchasing an additional 3,564 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rollins by 65.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 39,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 15,574 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Rollins in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Rollins by 8.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,993 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on ROL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Rollins from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of 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 target on shares of Rollins from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Rollins in a report 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.00.

Rollins Price Performance

ROL stock opened at $53.04 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $50.88 and a 200-day moving average of $49.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.25 and a beta of 0.78. Rollins, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.72 and a 12 month high of $54.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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, sell-side analysts predict that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rollins news, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total transaction of $99,469.38. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,173 shares in the company, valued at $2,131,937.94. This trade represents a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Traci Hornfeck sold 3,224 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.10, for a total value of $171,194.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $509,866.20. The trade was a 25.14 % 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 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.