Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Shares Sold by Riverbridge Partners LLC

Riverbridge Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,840 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 645 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 455.6% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp raised Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.16.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $289.09 on Thursday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $307.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $288.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $274.71.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. 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. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total value of $245,874.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,114.56. This trade represents a 42.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,436 shares of company stock worth $10,832,549. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.