AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 9,816 Shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 958,170 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9,816 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.20% of Rollins worth $44,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Rollins during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Rollins during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Rollins in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Rollins by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 890 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Rollins during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $61.00 price target on Rollins and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rollins from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Rollins from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Rollins from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Rollins from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rollins has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.57.

Insider Transactions at Rollins

In other news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 13,193 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total value of $675,217.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,916,600.68. This represents a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas D. Tesh sold 1,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.81, for a total transaction of $101,448.01. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,093,388.40. This represents a 4.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,259 shares of company stock valued at $1,047,330. Corporate insiders own 4.47% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ROL opened at $56.70 on Friday. Rollins, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.85 and a 52-week high of $57.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.06 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.22. The company had revenue of $822.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $817.09 million. Rollins had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 37.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

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.