TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Acquires 16,775 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 194,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 16,775 shares during the quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $55,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.2% during the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 99.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 2,582 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at $912,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROK has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target 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. KeyCorp raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.05.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE:ROK opened at $301.03 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $286.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $276.17. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $308.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $34.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. Equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.28 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.26%.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,000 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,089,000. This trade represents a 21.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of the firm’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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $490,242.93. This represents a 34.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,240 shares of company stock valued at $10,800,555 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.