Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Sells 1,777,474 Shares of Rollins, Inc. $ROL

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lessened its holdings in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) by 94.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,660 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,777,474 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Rollins were worth $5,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Rollins during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $218,593,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Rollins by 41.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,657,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Rollins by 4.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,720,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,156,949,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,306 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Rollins by 78.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,282,659 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $128,788,000 after buying an additional 1,000,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 149.6% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,265,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,402,000 after buying an additional 758,462 shares during the period. 51.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ROL. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Rollins in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $67.00 target price on Rollins and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Rollins in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $52.00 target price on Rollins and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price target on shares of Rollins in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rollins news, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 14,201 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.36, for a total value of $842,971.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 55,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,322,794.72. This represents a 20.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Gary W. Rollins sold 19,094 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total value of $1,207,886.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 5,322,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $336,699,388.94. This represents a 0.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 73,351 shares of company stock worth $4,554,785 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.47% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Stock Up 1.0%

ROL stock opened at $59.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Rollins, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.73 and a 12 month high of $66.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.17.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $912.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $925.08 million. Rollins had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 38.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Rollins, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.1825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Rollins’s dividend payout ratio is 66.97%.

Rollins Profile

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.