Clarius Group LLC Has $331,000 Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Clarius Group LLC cut its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 117 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. West Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 455.6% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of ROK stock opened at $287.06 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $287.88 and a 200-day moving average of $274.32. The stock has a market cap of $32.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $307.71. 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 (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total transaction of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,363,536. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,436 shares of company stock worth $10,832,549 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.16.

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.