Stevens Capital Management LP Makes New $773,000 Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $773,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. KLCM Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 1,136 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 676.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 32,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,984,000 after purchasing an additional 28,016 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,266,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 85,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,562,000 after purchasing an additional 4,093 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ROK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $324.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $330.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $305.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.52, for a total transaction of $140,260.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,229,519.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Brian A. Shepherd sold 637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.87, for a total value of $167,448.19. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,088 shares in the company, valued at $1,337,482.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.52, for a total transaction of $140,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at $1,229,519.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,877 shares of company stock worth $5,058,772 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK stock traded up $1.39 on Thursday, hitting $276.95. 919,944 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,023,522. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.11 and a 1-year high of $348.52. The stock has a market cap of $31.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $282.59 and a 200-day moving average of $283.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.62 by ($0.58). The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.22% and a net margin of 13.35%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.46 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 47.57%.

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.