Sanctuary Advisors LLC Sells 279 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 279 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $3,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.2% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 95.8% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 99.1% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after buying an additional 2,582 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at $912,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $315.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.05.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 2.7 %

ROK stock opened at $294.95 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $286.35 and its 200 day moving average is $276.84. The stock has a market cap of $33.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $308.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued 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 net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. Sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This trade represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,089,000. This trade represents a 21.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,240 shares of company stock valued at $10,800,555 over the last 90 days. 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.