Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK Shares Purchased by Capital Fund Management S.A.

Capital Fund Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 17.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares during the period. Capital Fund Management S.A.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $5,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $281,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 4,195 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Natixis purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $530,000. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,394 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,827,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ROK shares. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. CICC Research began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $381.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $340.16.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 3.3%

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $350.7550 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.00 and a 12 month high of $360.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $341.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.45. The stock has a market cap of $39.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.39.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.15. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 30.14%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 61.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 526 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.35, for a total value of $171,134.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $319,819.05. The trade was a 34.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 269 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.26, for a total transaction of $95,564.94. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $573,034.38. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,818 shares of company stock worth $1,944,708 in the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.