Leavell Investment Management Inc. Has $207,000 Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 31.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,092,891,000 after purchasing an additional 438,356 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,611,915,000 after buying an additional 5,006,706 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,510,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $439,912,000 after acquiring an additional 365,795 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,326,000 after acquiring an additional 933,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 82.4% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 859,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $250,461,000 after acquiring an additional 388,400 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $284.21.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $277.82 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $312.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $266.92 and a 200-day moving average of $266.56.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.39%.

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.