HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 7,573 Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,164,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 7.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,348,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth $464,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,404 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,256,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 204,679 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,948,000 after purchasing an additional 11,161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.5 %

ROK stock opened at $231.51 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $215.00 and a one year high of $308.70. The stock has a market cap of $26.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $264.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $275.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

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

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 65.26%.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.68, for a total transaction of $75,500.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,260.96. This represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total value of $255,178.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $490,242.93. This trade represents a 34.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,750 shares of company stock worth $1,075,923. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ROK. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $345.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.11.

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.