Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) VP Scott Genereux Sells 279 Shares

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $856,111.83. This represents a 8.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $295.42 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $312.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $277.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.83. The company has a market capitalization of $33.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS 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 return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The business’s revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.2% during the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth $912,000. Vicus Capital bought a new position in Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth $304,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 3.1% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 670,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $179,873,000 after purchasing an additional 19,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 8.8% during the third quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 33,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Rockwell Automation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho increased their target price 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. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.47.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

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.