KBC Group NV Sells 63,541 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

KBC Group NV lessened its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 74.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,054 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 63,541 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $5,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,611,915,000 after buying an additional 5,006,706 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,510,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $439,912,000 after acquiring an additional 365,795 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,648 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 986,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $264,929,000 after purchasing an additional 41,605 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,326,000 after purchasing an additional 933,025 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In related news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $286.13.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of ROK opened at $286.15 on Monday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $312.76. The company has a market capitalization of $32.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $269.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.82.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 60.39%.

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.