Burney Co. Boosts Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Burney Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.2% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter worth about $912,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares during the period. Vicus Capital purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $304,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 462,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $132,554,000 after buying an additional 25,882 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at $23,327,482.45. This trade represents a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,436 shares of company stock worth $10,832,549 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.16.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE ROK opened at $281.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $287.50 and a 200-day moving average of $274.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $307.71. The firm has a market cap of $31.76 billion, a PE ratio of 33.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid 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 1.86%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.