Ballentine Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,907 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 100.0% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC raised 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total value of $83,967.12. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $961,695.36. This trade represents a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,436 shares of company stock worth $10,832,549. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ROK. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. KeyCorp upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.16.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $290.73 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $288.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $274.81. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $307.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $32.86 billion, a PE ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

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.