Lbp Am Sa Buys New Shares in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Lbp Am Sa bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 19,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,672,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 95.8% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 99.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,582 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at $912,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,928 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 462,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $132,554,000 after acquiring an additional 25,882 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total transaction of $245,874.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at $329,114.56. This trade represents a 42.76 % 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 Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total transaction of $255,178.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $490,242.93. This represents a 34.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,352 shares of company stock worth $1,246,298 over the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on ROK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.68.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK opened at $260.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.39, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $282.10 and a 200 day moving average of $278.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $242.81 and a fifty-two week high of $308.70.

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

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

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.