OFI Invest Asset Management Takes Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,730 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,029,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 95.8% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 99.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 2,582 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the third quarter worth $912,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted 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 worth $9,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 462,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $132,554,000 after purchasing an additional 25,882 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, 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 in the company, valued at $490,242.93. The trade was a 34.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.14, for a total transaction of $145,070.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,905 shares in the company, valued at $552,716.70. This represents a 20.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,352 shares of company stock worth $1,246,298 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ROK shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $345.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.47.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $276.55 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $284.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $308.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.27 billion, a PE ratio of 34.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

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.