Davis R M Inc. Purchases 1,520 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Davis R M Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,520 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $24,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 95.8% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 99.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after buying an additional 2,582 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at approximately $912,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,184,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of ROK opened at $270.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $308.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $283.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $278.97.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. Equities research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp raised shares of 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. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.68.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total value of $245,874.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at $329,114.56. The trade was a 42.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,231 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.43, for a total value of $351,364.33. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,819.50. The trade was a 25.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,246,298. 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.