Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 139 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lowered its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 139 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $2,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth $281,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 14,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 119.7% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 6,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after buying an additional 3,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at $479,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ROK shares. TD Cowen raised Rockwell Automation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays raised Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $283.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday, May 30th. BNP Paribas upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.21.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $324.56 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.00 and a 1-year high of $324.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $270.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.42, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.24, for a total transaction of $285,681.36. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $299,067.92. The trade was a 48.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.02, for a total transaction of $160,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $866,934.18. The trade was a 15.58% 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 valued at $1,640,796. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.