Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Sells 36 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. cut its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 36 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the 1st 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 last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 1.8% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,145,544 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,013,000,000 after purchasing an additional 162,391 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,518,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,488,671,000 after purchasing an additional 90,589 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,752,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $786,778,000 after purchasing an additional 70,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,741,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $706,004,000 after purchasing an additional 457,383 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brian A. Shepherd sold 637 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.87, for a total transaction of $167,448.19. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,337,482.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Brian A. Shepherd sold 637 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.87, for a total transaction of $167,448.19. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,337,482.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $145,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,070. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,877 shares of company stock worth $5,058,772 in the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $324.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Berenberg Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $290.00 price objective (down from $330.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $305.00 to $360.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $351.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.36.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $291.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $284.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $284.56. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $252.11 and a twelve month high of $348.52.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.62 by ($0.58). The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 37.22%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 12.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.57%.

Rockwell Automation 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.