Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Sells 481 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ reduced its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 481 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $6,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth $284,177,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,844.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 702,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $181,588,000 after buying an additional 700,447 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 85,513.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 675,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $193,047,000 after buying an additional 674,698 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 102.3% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,287,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $368,021,000 after buying an additional 651,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,115,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,033,476,000 after purchasing an additional 432,934 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $381.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $341.11.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:ROK opened at $358.87 on Monday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $215.00 and a one year high of $360.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $40.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $329.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.94.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.36. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 269 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.26, for a total transaction of $95,564.94. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $573,034.38. This represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 363 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.32, for a total value of $118,454.16. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,325,838.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,757 shares of company stock worth $3,138,220. 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.