Keybank National Association OH Sells 515 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Keybank National Association OH trimmed its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 44,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 515 shares during the quarter. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $12,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ROK. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. West Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 455.6% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ROK shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $315.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 1,741 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.67, for a total transaction of $516,502.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 80,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,825,271.03. The trade was a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,819.50. This represents a 25.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,147 shares of company stock valued at $2,680,378 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 3.9 %

NYSE:ROK opened at $267.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $30.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.35. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $285.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.73. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $308.70.

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

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.