Coombe Bender & Co LLC Acquires Shares of 608 Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Coombe Bender & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $189,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 579,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $179,775,000 after purchasing an additional 23,084 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 3,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 18,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,741,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 56,876 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,659,000 after acquiring an additional 5,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:ROK traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $269.45. 311,309 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 998,107. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $282.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $283.24. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $252.11 and a 12-month high of $348.52.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by ($0.58). The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.22% and a net margin of 13.35%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 47.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $324.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. UBS Group raised Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $305.00 to $360.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Mizuho dropped their target price 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $269.00 to $265.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $310.08.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In related news, CEO Blake D. Moret purchased 3,500 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 $21,901,262.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Brian A. Shepherd sold 637 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.87, for a total transaction of $167,448.19. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,337,482.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret bought 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $283.64 per share, with a total value of $992,740.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,901,262.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,877 shares of company stock worth $5,058,772 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by 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.