Wellington Management Group LLP Acquires 674,698 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 85,513.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 675,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 674,698 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.60% of Rockwell Automation worth $193,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. West Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 455.6% during 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. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $315.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $345.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. HSBC raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target 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. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.42.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ROK stock opened at $260.75 on Thursday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $242.81 and a fifty-two week high of $308.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $277.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $278.76. The company has a market cap of $29.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. Research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total value of $245,874.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at $329,114.56. This trade represents a 42.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total transaction of $255,178.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $490,242.93. The trade was a 34.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,352 shares of company stock worth $1,246,298. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.