Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. Sells 4,346 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. decreased its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,346 shares during the period. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.0% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.9% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,096 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.5% during the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $286.13.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $286.15 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $269.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $266.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.17 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 $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 60.39%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate 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.