AdvisorShares Investments LLC Takes $50,000 Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ROK. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 720.8% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 399,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $132,638,000 after acquiring an additional 350,662 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter worth about $73,908,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter worth about $63,632,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 213.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 357,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,263,000 after purchasing an additional 243,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,950.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 202,788 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,360,000 after purchasing an additional 192,898 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 24,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.13, for a total value of $8,543,172.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 83,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,366,453.49. The trade was a 22.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James P. Keane sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.06, for a total transaction of $1,068,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,272,903.52. This represents a 24.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,375 shares of company stock worth $10,661,109. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of ROK opened at $368.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $41.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.41. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.00 and a 52 week high of $375.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $348.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $326.64.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 30.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.31. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 61.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ROK shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $363.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $381.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $347.94.

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.