Insider Selling: Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) SVP Sells $154,511.94 in Stock

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $277.09 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $312.76. The stock has a market cap of $31.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.49, a PEG ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $266.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.63.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.09% and a net margin of 11.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 56.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,611,915,000 after buying an additional 5,006,706 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,648 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,326,000 after acquiring an additional 933,025 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,135,000 after acquiring an additional 700,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,092,891,000 after purchasing an additional 438,356 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $281.93.

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.