LRI Investments LLC Has $579,000 Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4,197.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,973 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in 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 Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in 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 Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% in 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 Rockwell Automation by 33.5% in 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 Rockwell Automation by 484.5% in 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. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ROK shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.75.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $298.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $33.72 billion, a PE ratio of 36.07, a PEG ratio of 3.09 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. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $312.76. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $278.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $269.09.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.64 EPS. Research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.75%. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total transaction of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at $1,363,536. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.13, for a total transaction of $82,620.27. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $856,111.83. The trade was a 8.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,070 shares of company stock worth $10,142,408 in the last three months. 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.