Global Retirement Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,464 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.2% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 95.8% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 99.1% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 2,582 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at about $912,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ROK shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp raised Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $315.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 1,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total transaction of $338,553.21. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 81,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,690,525.54. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 279 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.13, for a total transaction of $82,620.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $856,111.83. This represents a 8.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,540 shares of company stock worth $2,527,134. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ROK opened at $294.95 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $277.55. The company has a market cap of $33.35 billion, a PE ratio of 36.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.35. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $308.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. As a group, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 65.26%.

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.