Stephens Inc. AR Boosts Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $7,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 100.0% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. West Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 455.6% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens raised shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.16.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $268.27 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.97. The company has a market cap of $30.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $304.29.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total transaction of $83,967.12. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,184 shares in the company, valued at $961,695.36. The trade was a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This trade represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,857 shares of company stock worth $10,678,037 in the last quarter. 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.