1,200 Shares in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Bought by Banco BTG Pactual S.A.

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,876,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,965,774,000 after purchasing an additional 81,079 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,648,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,247,839,000 after buying an additional 11,949 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,683,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $717,865,000 after buying an additional 14,040 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $580,095,000 after buying an additional 430,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after buying an additional 13,744 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ROK. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens raised Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.42.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.14, for a total transaction of $145,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,905 shares in the company, valued at $552,716.70. This trade represents a 20.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.43, for a total value of $351,364.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,650 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,819.50. The trade was a 25.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,352 shares of company stock worth $1,246,298. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $269.06 on Thursday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $308.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $30.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $278.72.

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

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 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.