Bridges Investment Management Inc. Acquires 202 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 455.6% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ROK shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. HSBC raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.55.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK opened at $278.20 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $285.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.69. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $308.70. The company has a market cap of $31.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.35.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. On average, analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.14, for a total value of $145,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,905 shares in the company, valued at $552,716.70. This represents a 20.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 1,741 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.67, for a total transaction of $516,502.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 80,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,825,271.03. The trade was a 2.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,147 shares of company stock worth $2,680,378 in the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.