Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $6.01 Million Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,383 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,468 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $6,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 4.2% during the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,096 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth approximately $224,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.0% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $286.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total transaction of $132,660.69. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at $1,363,536. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $278.13 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $312.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $270.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $267.11.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for 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 company’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.