Veena M. Lakkundi Sells 579 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Stock

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK traded up $4.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $269.20. 792,319 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 866,824. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $266.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.44. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $312.76. The company has a market cap of $30.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.59, a PEG ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.63. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.82%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,092,891,000 after buying an additional 438,356 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 951.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,611,915,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006,706 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 32.0% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,510,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $439,912,000 after purchasing an additional 365,795 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 986,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $264,929,000 after purchasing an additional 41,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ROK. Bank of America raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.93.

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.