Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Invests $89,000 in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,876,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,965,774,000 after purchasing an additional 81,079 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,648,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,247,839,000 after buying an additional 11,949 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,683,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $717,865,000 after buying an additional 14,040 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $580,095,000 after acquiring an additional 430,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $448,701,000 after acquiring an additional 13,744 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $269.06 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $279.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $278.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $308.70. 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 (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $315.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp raised 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 research note on Monday, December 9th. Stephens raised shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 34.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,716.70. The trade was a 20.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,352 shares of company stock worth $1,246,298 in the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Rockwell Automation

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.