Hel Ved Capital Management Ltd Acquires Shares of 36,600 Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Hel Ved Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 36,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,460,000. Rockwell Automation accounts for about 3.1% of Hel Ved Capital Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,876,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,965,774,000 after acquiring an additional 81,079 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,648,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,247,839,000 after acquiring an additional 11,949 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,734,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $779,426,000 after purchasing an additional 51,228 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $580,095,000 after buying an additional 430,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $448,701,000 after purchasing an additional 13,744 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens raised Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $315.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.42.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK stock opened at $227.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.48 and a 52 week high of $308.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $278.24.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 30.17% and a net margin of 11.38%. Analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total value of $255,178.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,633 shares in the company, valued at $490,242.93. This trade represents a 34.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.14, for a total transaction of $145,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $552,716.70. This represents a 20.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,246,298 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.