Brighton Jones LLC Acquires Shares of 983 Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 983 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ROK. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 100.0% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. West Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 455.6% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE ROK opened at $284.31 on Tuesday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $307.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $275.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $32.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In related news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,221,151.36. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total value of $83,967.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $961,695.36. This represents a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,436 shares of company stock worth $10,832,549. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ROK. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.16.

About Rockwell Automation

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.