Chemung Canal Trust Co. Decreases Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Chemung Canal Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter worth about $233,000. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at $281,000. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 13,863 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,962,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Marathon Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at $429,000. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ROK. Barclays cut their target price on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total value of $245,874.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $329,114.56. This trade represents a 42.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This trade represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,436 shares of company stock worth $10,832,549 in the last ninety days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.9 %

ROK stock opened at $288.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $307.71. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $288.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $274.92.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation 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.