Insider Selling: Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) VP Sells 895 Shares of Stock

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total value of $245,874.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,114.56. The trade was a 42.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.8 %

ROK stock opened at $275.72 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $287.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $274.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $307.71. The firm has a market cap of $31.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ROK shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $300.89.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after buying an additional 1,184,648 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,326,000 after acquiring an additional 933,025 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,802,000 after acquiring an additional 390,784 shares during the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 484.5% in the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 412,371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,779,000 after acquiring an additional 341,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Interval Partners LP raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 479,608.6% in the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 335,656 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,399,000 after acquiring an additional 335,726 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.