Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) SVP Tessa M. Myers Sells 72 Shares

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 72 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.03, for a total transaction of $21,746.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,332,556.36. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $293.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $278.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $269.09. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $312.76. The company has a market capitalization of $33.16 billion, a PE ratio of 35.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,184,648 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,326,000 after acquiring an additional 933,025 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,135,000 after acquiring an additional 700,745 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 390,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 484.5% during the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 412,371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,779,000 after acquiring an additional 341,814 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ROK shares. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. Barclays upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $255.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.75.

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.