Rafferty Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,268 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 782 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $3,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,115,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,033,476,000 after buying an additional 432,934 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,734,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $779,426,000 after buying an additional 51,228 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $580,095,000 after acquiring an additional 430,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after acquiring an additional 13,744 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 293 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.68, for a total transaction of $75,500.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,922 shares in the company, valued at $495,260.96. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.43, for a total transaction of $351,364.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,819.50. This represents a 25.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,839 shares of company stock worth $2,014,256. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.3%

ROK stock opened at $308.89 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 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 PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.32. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.00 and a twelve month high of $310.78. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $275.13.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $2 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is currently 65.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $260.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $258.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.37.

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.