Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Shares Sold by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK – Get Rating) by 1.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 191,989 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,087 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $41,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Markel Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.3% in the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 152,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,816,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 57,480 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,221,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter valued at $642,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,472,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,212,750,000 after buying an additional 106,641 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ROK. Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $278.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $297.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $285.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America cut Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $263.24.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In related news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 4,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.49, for a total value of $1,317,081.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,330.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 4,534 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.49, for a total value of $1,317,081.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,206 shares in the company, valued at $350,330.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 3,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $287.80, for a total transaction of $914,628.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,011,434.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,112,032 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK stock opened at $272.71 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $261.35. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.08 and a 52 week high of $309.36. The stock has a market cap of $31.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The industrial products company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.65. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were given a $1.18 dividend. This represents a $4.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is currently 51.14%.

Rockwell Automation Company Profile

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Rockwell Automation, Inc engages in the provision of industrial automation and information services. It operates through the following segments: Intelligent Devices, Software and Control, and Lifecycle Services. The Intelligent Devices segment combines a comprehensive portfolio of smart products that create the foundation of an agile, resilient, and sustainable production system.