Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Shares Sold by Tobam

Tobam trimmed its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 33.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 112 shares during the period. Tobam’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $57,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth $281,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 14,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 119.7% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 6,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 3,613 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $8,289,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $317.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.38. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $215.00 and a one year high of $328.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $279.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $279.88. 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 (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays raised Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $283.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $327.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 223 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.97, for a total transaction of $70,015.31. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,209 shares in the company, valued at $1,007,529.73. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.13, for a total transaction of $760,325.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,166.29. This represents a 70.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,681 shares of company stock worth $2,382,987 in the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.