Capital Investment Advisors LLC Sells 81 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,931 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 81 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 7.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,560 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,008,000 after buying an additional 1,013 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 21.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,965,000 after buying an additional 11,996 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 10.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 794,739 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $218,749,000 after buying an additional 74,442 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth about $350,000. Finally, Argent Trust Co grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 1.1% during the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 6,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $275.85 on Thursday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $307.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $287.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $274.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ROK. HSBC upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $301.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $961,695.36. This trade represents a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,436 shares of company stock valued at $10,832,549 over the last 90 days. Company 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.