Burford Brothers Inc. Buys New Shares in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Burford Brothers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,741 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $498,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 408,336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $116,682,000 after buying an additional 88,962 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $968,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 2,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ROK. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. KeyCorp upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.16.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $7,973,421.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total value of $83,967.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,695.36. The trade was a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,857 shares of company stock worth $10,678,037. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $278.19 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. The stock has a market cap of $31.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $288.35 and its 200 day moving average is $275.18. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $304.29.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.64 EPS. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.