NorthRock Partners LLC Buys Shares of 966 Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $276,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 95.8% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 99.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,582 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 357.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 37,239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,643,000 after acquiring an additional 29,105 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 181.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,351 shares during the period. Finally, Marathon Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $429,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,231 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.43, for a total value of $351,364.33. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,819.50. This represents a 25.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.24, for a total transaction of $285,681.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 983 shares in the company, valued at $299,067.92. The trade was a 48.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,839 shares of company stock valued at $2,014,256 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ROK. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. TD Cowen raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.37.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $308.89 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $255.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $275.07. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $34.82 billion, a PE ratio of 38.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.32. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.00 and a 1-year high of $310.78.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. Rockwell Automation’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 65.99%.

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.