Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) VP Sells $760,325.00 in Stock

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 2,500 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.13, for a total value of $760,325.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,166.29. This represents a 70.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK opened at $306.72 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $253.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $274.49. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.00 and a 12-month high of $310.78. The firm has a market cap of $34.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.20, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is currently 65.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $284,177,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 29,844.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 702,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $181,588,000 after purchasing an additional 700,447 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 85,513.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 675,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $193,047,000 after purchasing an additional 674,698 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 102.3% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,287,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $368,021,000 after purchasing an additional 651,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,115,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,033,476,000 after buying an additional 432,934 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ROK shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $283.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $258.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. TD Cowen raised Rockwell Automation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $308.37.

Rockwell Automation Company 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.