Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Buys New Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 90 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,611,915,000 after buying an additional 5,006,706 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,092,891,000 after acquiring an additional 438,356 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth approximately $118,345,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 82.4% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 859,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $250,461,000 after purchasing an additional 388,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,510,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $439,912,000 after purchasing an additional 365,795 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ROK. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $312.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $310.00 to $304.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $322.00 to $316.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $294.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.27, for a total value of $127,617.09. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,311,696. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.27, for a total transaction of $127,617.09. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at $1,311,696. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.11, for a total transaction of $171,412.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,204,309.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,199 shares of company stock valued at $572,750. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

NYSE ROK traded down $11.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $253.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 831,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 723,806. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $28.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $265.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $275.63. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.00 and a 12 month high of $317.74.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 34.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 48.88%.

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.