Diversified Trust Co Boosts Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,451 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,648,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,247,839,000 after buying an additional 11,949 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,683,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $717,865,000 after acquiring an additional 14,040 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $417,802,000 after acquiring an additional 390,784 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $318,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 6.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,128,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $303,041,000 after purchasing an additional 67,684 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $300.89.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $279.44 on Thursday. 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 $307.71. The company has a market capitalization of $31.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $287.14 and a 200 day moving average of $273.78.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released 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. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,327,482.45. The trade was a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total transaction of $83,967.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $961,695.36. This represents a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,541 shares of company stock worth $10,586,674 over the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation 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.