Cambridge Trust Co. Trims Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Cambridge Trust Co. lessened its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 29.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 573 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Markel Corp increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 152,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,816,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 10.3% in 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 last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the first quarter worth $642,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.0% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $3,212,750,000 after acquiring an additional 106,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 489 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.56, for a total transaction of $145,017.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,285.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 4,855 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $1,529,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 64,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,293,875. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 489 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.56, for a total transaction of $145,017.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,285.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,693 shares of company stock worth $4,558,687. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ROK. Barclays downgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $287.00 in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Rockwell Automation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $290.00 to $317.00 in a research report on Tuesday. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $334.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.00.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK traded up $1.97 on Friday, hitting $314.05. 880,013 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,292. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.12. The business’s fifty day moving average is $318.49 and its 200 day moving average is $298.15. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $209.27 and a fifty-two week high of $348.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.43.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $3.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.19 by ($0.18). Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 40.33% and a net margin of 16.51%. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 11.95 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 11th. This represents a $4.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is currently 38.50%.

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.