Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Invests $232,000 in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,876,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,965,774,000 after purchasing an additional 81,079 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,115,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,033,476,000 after purchasing an additional 432,934 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,734,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $779,426,000 after purchasing an additional 51,228 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $580,095,000 after purchasing an additional 430,498 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $448,701,000 after purchasing an additional 13,744 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 2.4%

ROK opened at $317.36 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.00 and a 1-year high of $328.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $279.47 and a 200-day moving average of $279.88.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.17% and a net margin of 11.38%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.13, for a total value of $760,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,166.29. This trade represents a 70.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 293 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.68, for a total value of $75,500.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $495,260.96. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,681 shares of company stock worth $2,382,987 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $327.00 to $371.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upgraded Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $283.00 to $350.00 in a report on Friday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.79.

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.