ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Invests $237,000 in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the third quarter valued at approximately $912,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 6.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,184,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth approximately $304,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 462,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $132,554,000 after acquiring an additional 25,882 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 36,436 shares of company stock valued at $10,832,549. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $275.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.32, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $307.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $287.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $274.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ROK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $301.61.

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.