TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 45.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,295 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC owned about 0.17% of Rockwell Automation worth $60,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,752,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $786,778,000 after buying an additional 70,272 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,908,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $545,474,000 after buying an additional 172,577 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,518,807 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $434,181,000 after buying an additional 3,845 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,399,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $399,954,000 after buying an additional 43,992 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 900,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $279,626,000 after buying an additional 2,736 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ROK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $254.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer dropped their target price 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. Berenberg Bank reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $290.00 target price (down previously from $330.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.93.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Rockwell Automation stock traded down $3.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $270.50. 1,515,102 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,029,059. 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 fifty day moving average price of $281.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $283.04. The firm has a market cap of $31.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.43. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.11 and a fifty-two week high of $348.52.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 37.22%. Rockwell Automation’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.57%.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.52, for a total transaction of $140,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,229,519.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 13,900 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,400,575.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.52, for a total value of $140,260.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,229,519.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,240 shares of company stock valued at $4,891,324 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.