Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Has $425,000 Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 77 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 23,897 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,830,000 after acquiring an additional 2,707 shares during the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,411 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth about $1,029,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $580,095,000 after buying an additional 430,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 824 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROK. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. HSBC upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. BNP Paribas downgraded Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.68.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK stock opened at $255.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $308.70. The company has a market capitalization of $28.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.79, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $282.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $278.64.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total value of $255,178.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,633 shares in the company, valued at $490,242.93. This trade represents a 34.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,231 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.43, for a total value of $351,364.33. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,819.50. The trade was a 25.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,352 shares of company stock worth $1,246,298. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Rockwell Automation

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.