Private Advisor Group LLC Increases Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 324 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $2,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,648 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 390,784 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 408,336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $116,682,000 after acquiring an additional 88,962 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 229.5% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 102,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,250,000 after acquiring an additional 71,288 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,128,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $303,041,000 after acquiring an additional 67,684 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ROK shares. KeyCorp upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Stephens raised shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.05.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 1.0 %

ROK stock opened at $292.40 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $308.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.06 billion, a PE ratio of 36.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $286.23 and a 200 day moving average of $277.78.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In related news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 1,741 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.67, for a total value of $516,502.47. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 80,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,825,271.03. This represents a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,114.56. The trade was a 42.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,540 shares of company stock worth $1,935,134 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.