US Bancorp DE Sells 3,645 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

US Bancorp DE trimmed its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,645 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned approximately 0.07% of Rockwell Automation worth $23,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after buying an additional 1,184,648 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,802,000 after buying an additional 390,784 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,887,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 408,336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $116,682,000 after buying an additional 88,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 229.5% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 102,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,250,000 after buying an additional 71,288 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ROK. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas downgraded Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens upgraded Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.55.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $287.51 on Monday. 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 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $308.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $286.05 and a 200-day moving average of $278.59.

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

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $255,178.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $490,242.93. This represents a 34.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $245,874.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,114.56. The trade was a 42.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,540 shares of company stock valued at $1,935,134 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.