Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Position Trimmed by New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board trimmed its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,376 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ROK. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,960,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 89.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 112,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,235,000 after buying an additional 2,247 shares during the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 1,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 19,276 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,175,000 after buying an additional 2,122 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK opened at $294.81 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $33.34 billion, a PE ratio of 35.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $242.81 and a 1 year high of $308.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $286.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.97.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 279 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.13, for a total value of $82,620.27. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,891 shares in the company, valued at $856,111.83. The trade was a 8.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,240 shares of company stock worth $10,800,555 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ROK. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $315.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $345.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.05.

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.