Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Shares Bought by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,115,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 432,934 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.06% of Rockwell Automation worth $2,033,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,876,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,965,774,000 after acquiring an additional 81,079 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,734,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $779,426,000 after purchasing an additional 51,228 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $580,095,000 after buying an additional 430,498 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after acquiring an additional 13,744 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,417,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $405,057,000 after purchasing an additional 53,287 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Rockwell Automation from $345.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stephens raised Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays cut their price target on Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total value of $255,178.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $490,242.93. The trade was a 34.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,231 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.43, for a total transaction of $351,364.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,819.50. This represents a 25.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,750 shares of company stock worth $1,075,923 in the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $234.20 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $260.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $274.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.00 and a 52 week high of $308.70. The company has a market cap of $26.48 billion, a PE ratio of 29.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. 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.