California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 8,307 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 213,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,307 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.19% of Rockwell Automation worth $66,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33,600.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 295,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,658,000 after acquiring an additional 294,337 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 9.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,908,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $545,474,000 after buying an additional 172,577 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,275,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 35.6% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 484,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $139,247,000 after buying an additional 127,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,294.7% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 127,891 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,560,000 after buying an additional 118,721 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ROK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $254.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Berenberg Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a $290.00 price objective (down from $330.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $305.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $145,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,070. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Brian A. Shepherd sold 637 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.87, for a total transaction of $167,448.19. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,337,482.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,070. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,877 shares of company stock worth $5,058,772 in the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:ROK opened at $276.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $31.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.43. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.11 and a 52 week high of $348.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $282.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $283.84.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by ($0.58). Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 37.22%. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.57%.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

Rockwell Automation, Inc provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company operates through three segments, Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. Its solutions include hardware and software products and services.