SG Americas Securities LLC Buys 94 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,135 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 106,641 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.8% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,145,544 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,013,000,000 after acquiring an additional 162,391 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,518,655 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,488,671,000 after acquiring an additional 90,589 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,752,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $786,778,000 after acquiring an additional 70,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,741,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $706,004,000 after acquiring an additional 457,383 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Blake D. Moret purchased 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $283.64 per share, with a total value of $992,740.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,901,262.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Blake D. Moret bought 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $283.64 per share, with a total value of $992,740.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 77,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,901,262.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian A. Shepherd sold 637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.87, for a total value of $167,448.19. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,337,482.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,877 shares of company stock valued at $5,058,772 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

NYSE:ROK opened at $291.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.43. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.11 and a 52-week high of $348.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $284.45 and a 200 day moving average of $284.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 37.22%. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 12.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on ROK shares. UBS Group raised Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $305.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $324.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Berenberg Bank reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $290.00 target price (down from $330.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $254.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.36.

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.