Lmcg Investments LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Lmcg Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,075 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,947 shares during the quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $11,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,876,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,965,774,000 after purchasing an additional 81,079 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,115,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,033,476,000 after purchasing an additional 432,934 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,734,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $779,426,000 after purchasing an additional 51,228 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $580,095,000 after purchasing an additional 430,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.13, for a total transaction of $760,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,033 shares in the company, valued at $314,166.29. This represents a 70.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.68, for a total value of $75,500.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,260.96. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,405 shares of company stock worth $1,640,796. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ROK. BNP Paribas raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $258.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays raised Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $327.00 to $371.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.21.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $318.98 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $268.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.11. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.00 and a 52-week high of $320.32. The firm has a market cap of $35.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.72, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.36. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.17% and a net margin of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.99%.

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.