Blair William & Co. IL Reduces Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 310,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,116 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $88,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 95.8% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 99.1% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after buying an additional 2,582 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 6.0% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,184,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 462,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $132,554,000 after acquiring an additional 25,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ROK. HSBC upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $345.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.42.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total transaction of $245,874.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,114.56. This represents a 42.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total transaction of $255,178.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $490,242.93. The trade was a 34.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,352 shares of company stock worth $1,246,298. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $269.06 on Thursday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $308.70. The company has a market capitalization of $30.42 billion, a PE ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $279.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $278.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.17% and a net margin of 11.38%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

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.