Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Shares Sold by Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ROK. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,648 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,326,000 after purchasing an additional 933,025 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,135,000 after purchasing an additional 700,745 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $417,802,000 after purchasing an additional 390,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 484.5% during the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 412,371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,779,000 after purchasing 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 research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.13.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $295.14 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $312.76. The company has a market cap of $33.32 billion, a PE ratio of 35.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.36. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $274.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.03.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

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

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,746 shares of company stock worth $9,152,594. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.