D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $5.90 Million Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $5,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Accredited Investors Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,184,648 shares during 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 valued at $251,326,000 after acquiring an additional 933,025 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,135,000 after acquiring an additional 700,745 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during the third 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 period. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 484.5% in the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 412,371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,779,000 after purchasing an additional 341,814 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,327,482.45. This trade represents a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,089,000. This trade represents a 21.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 28,746 shares of company stock valued at $8,560,594. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ROK. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $287.13.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK stock opened at $294.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $273.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $267.67. The company has a market capitalization of $33.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

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.