Eukles Asset Management Decreases Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Eukles Asset Management reduced its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 572 shares during the period. Eukles Asset Management’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $2,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quilter Plc grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 331,887 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $94,850,000 after purchasing an additional 19,818 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 119.7% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 6,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 3,613 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 25,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,280,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. HSBC raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Stephens upgraded Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,327,482.45. The trade was a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total transaction of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,363,536. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,857 shares of company stock worth $10,678,037. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $268.27 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $30.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $274.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $304.29.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. Rockwell Automation’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

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.