AdvisorShares Investments LLC Invests $50,000 in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,819,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $470,091,000 after acquiring an additional 191,370 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,579,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $408,229,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,448,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $374,176,000 after purchasing an additional 30,837 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,396,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $360,777,000 after purchasing an additional 4,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,170,010 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $302,307,000 after purchasing an additional 11,849 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 24,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.13, for a total transaction of $8,543,172.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 83,873 shares in the company, valued at $29,366,453.49. This represents a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $300,030.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $358,795. This trade represents a 45.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 30,375 shares of company stock valued at $10,661,109 over the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $368.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.06. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.00 and a 52-week high of $375.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $348.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $326.64. The stock has a market cap of $41.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.41.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.15. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 30.14%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.31. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROK. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $363.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $347.94.

Rockwell Automation 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.