Grimes & Company Inc. Sells 39 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Grimes & Company Inc. lowered its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 39 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 70.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,138,000 after purchasing an additional 4,713 shares during the period. AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 179.8% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 39,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,982,000 after acquiring an additional 25,633 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,330,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 70,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $19,345,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,349,000. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ROK shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. HSBC raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.16.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $245,874.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,114.56. This represents a 42.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,436 shares of company stock valued at $10,832,549. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $288.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $307.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $288.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $275.08. The stock has a market cap of $32.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.31 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

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.