Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Makes New $11.45 Million Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 44,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,448,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ROK. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 4,195 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,394 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,827,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $301,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 95,242 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,219,000 after purchasing an additional 16,090 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ROK shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $371.00 to $363.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. TD Cowen raised Rockwell Automation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $392.00 price objective (up previously from $371.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $345.00 price objective on Rockwell Automation and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $340.16.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 1.8%

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $349.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.00 and a 12 month high of $360.92. The firm has a market cap of $39.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.99, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $342.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.16.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.15. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.14% and a net margin of 12.03%.The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors 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 1.5%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 61.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 289 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.33, for a total value of $94,309.37. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,042,950.68. The trade was a 8.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 269 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.26, for a total value of $95,564.94. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 1,613 shares in the company, valued at $573,034.38. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,368 shares of company stock valued at $2,871,129 over the last ninety days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation 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.