Ninety One North America Inc. Raises Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Ninety One North America Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 50.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,499 shares during the quarter. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $6,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,472,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,212,750,000 after acquiring an additional 106,641 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 2.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,752,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $786,778,000 after buying an additional 70,272 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,741,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $706,004,000 after buying an additional 457,383 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 2.2% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,375,698 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $695,560,000 after buying an additional 51,561 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 9.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,908,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $545,474,000 after buying an additional 172,577 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Blake D. Moret acquired 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $283.64 per share, for a total transaction of $992,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 77,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,901,262.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Blake D. Moret acquired 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $283.64 per share, for a total transaction of $992,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 77,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,901,262.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 13,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.02, for a total transaction of $3,933,978.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,400,575.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,877 shares of company stock worth $5,058,772. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ROK. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $269.00 to $265.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $330.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $254.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.08.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ROK traded down $3.28 on Thursday, hitting $275.37. 420,862 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,025,104. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.11 and a 1-year high of $348.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $283.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $284.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.43.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.22% and a net margin of 13.35%. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 12.03 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.57%.

About Rockwell Automation

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.