Essex Financial Services Inc. Buys Shares of 760 Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Essex Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,648 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,326,000 after purchasing an additional 933,025 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $417,802,000 after purchasing an additional 390,784 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 408,336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $116,682,000 after purchasing an additional 88,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,128,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $303,041,000 after buying an additional 67,684 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ROK shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $345.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.05.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $298.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $33.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.05, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.35. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $242.81 and a 1 year high of $308.70. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $286.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.65. 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 (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,114.56. This represents a 42.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total transaction of $83,967.12. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,695.36. This trade represents a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,857 shares of company stock worth $10,678,037. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Rockwell Automation Company 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.