Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Buys New Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 11,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,351,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROK. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 89.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 22,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,080,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after buying an additional 1,157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ROK. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.05.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total value of $255,178.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,633 shares in the company, valued at $490,242.93. This trade represents a 34.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at $23,327,482.45. This trade represents a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,240 shares of company stock worth $10,800,555. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 2.7 %

ROK stock opened at $294.95 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $308.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $33.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.73, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $286.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $277.35.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.26%.

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.