Stonegate Investment Group LLC Decreases Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 33.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,817 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 911 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,184,648 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,326,000 after buying an additional 933,025 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,802,000 after acquiring an additional 390,784 shares in the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 67,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 97.4% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 119,961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,205,000 after purchasing an additional 59,203 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research 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 on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.16.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total transaction of $245,874.40. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,436 shares of company stock worth $10,832,549 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ROK opened at $282.27 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $288.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $307.71.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio 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.