Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Has $279.63 Million Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 900,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,736 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.79% of Rockwell Automation worth $279,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In related news, CEO Blake D. Moret bought 3,500 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $283.64 per share, for a total transaction of $992,740.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,901,262.60. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.52, for a total transaction of $140,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at $1,229,519.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret bought 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $283.64 per share, for a total transaction of $992,740.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 77,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,901,262.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,877 shares of company stock worth $5,058,772 over the last ninety days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.3 %

ROK opened at $284.82 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.11 and a fifty-two week high of $348.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $282.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $284.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.43.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.62 by ($0.58). The business had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.22% and a net margin of 13.35%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 12.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 47.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ROK. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $324.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho lowered their price target on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $269.00 to $265.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $305.00 to $360.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $330.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $310.08.

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.