Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,572,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 95.8% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 99.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 2,582 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 946 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 357.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 37,239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,643,000 after purchasing an additional 29,105 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 181.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,351 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ROK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report 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 target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Isaac Woods sold 876 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.03, for a total transaction of $248,810.28. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,219.71. This trade represents a 45.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 2,500 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $314,166.29. This trade represents a 70.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,839 shares of company stock valued at $2,014,256. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of ROK opened at $309.06 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.26. The company has a market capitalization of $34.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.00 and a 1-year high of $310.78.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.99%.

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.