Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Shares Sold by Caprock Group LLC

Caprock Group LLC lessened its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,917 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 795 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,096 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were 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 $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total transaction of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,363,536. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ROK. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho lifted their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $286.13.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $278.13 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $312.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $270.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $267.11. The company has a market cap of $31.40 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

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.