Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Shares Purchased by Ninety One North America Inc.

Ninety One North America Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 50.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 7,499 shares during the period. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $6,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth $26,000. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ROK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $269.00 to $265.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $330.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $305.00 to $360.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.08.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROK traded down $3.28 on Thursday, reaching $275.37. 420,862 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,025,104. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.43. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.11 and a fifty-two week high of $348.52. The business’s 50-day moving average is $283.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $284.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by ($0.58). Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.22% and a net margin of 13.35%. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 12.03 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 13,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.02, for a total value of $3,933,978.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,400,575.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 13,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.02, for a total value of $3,933,978.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,400,575.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret acquired 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $283.64 per share, for a total transaction of $992,740.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 77,215 shares in the company, valued at $21,901,262.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,877 shares of company stock valued at $5,058,772 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.