Larson Financial Group LLC Purchases 249 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 70.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.5% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $287.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $154,511.94. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This trade represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,746 shares of company stock worth $8,560,594 in the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.4 %

ROK opened at $294.95 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $242.81 and a fifty-two week high of $312.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $273.95 and its 200 day moving average is $267.86. The stock has a market cap of $33.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.