Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) SVP Sells $160,010.00 in Stock

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.02, for a total transaction of $160,010.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $866,934.18. The trade was a 15.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $324.56 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $278.69. The company has a market cap of $36.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.42, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.00 and a 1 year high of $324.80.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 65.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ROK. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $281,000. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,052 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $968,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 4,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.21.

Rockwell Automation Company 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.