First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Cuts Stock Holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lowered its stake in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 561 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Rollins were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its position in Rollins by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 39,988 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 5,213 shares during the last quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rollins by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 12,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rollins by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 217,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,511,000 after purchasing an additional 33,349 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 48,836 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,133,000 after buying an additional 10,445 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 182,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,949,000 after buying an additional 13,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROL opened at $47.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Rollins, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.19 and a 1 year high of $47.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $45.05 and its 200 day moving average is $42.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.65.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. Rollins had a return on equity of 37.73% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $748.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 1 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ROL shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Rollins from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Rollins in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.05, for a total transaction of $410,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 99,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,093,054.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Kenneth D. Krause sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total transaction of $230,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,078 shares in the company, valued at $4,575,422.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 10,000 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.05, for a total value of $410,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,093,054.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,824 shares of company stock worth $1,219,558 in the last three months. 4.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.