Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK Position Lessened by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 801 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.8% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 3.8% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,596 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $671,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 32.5% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,453.3% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 16,512 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,266,000 after purchasing an additional 15,449 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, Director James P. Keane sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.06, for a total value of $1,068,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,272,903.52. This represents a 24.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.08, for a total transaction of $499,494.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,318,178.96. The trade was a 27.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,375 shares of company stock worth $10,661,109 in the last ninety days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:ROK opened at $368.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $348.01 and a 200-day moving average of $327.29. The company has a market cap of $41.48 billion, a PE ratio of 43.30, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.41. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $215.00 and a one year high of $375.02.

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

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $410.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $347.94.

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.