Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Sells 114 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 114 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. West Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 455.6% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $315.00 to $337.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas downgraded Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. HSBC upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.05.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK stock opened at $294.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.35 billion, a PE ratio of 36.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.35. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $308.70. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $286.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $277.17.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.17% and a net margin of 11.38%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.26%.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,089,000. This represents a 21.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 279 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.13, for a total value of $82,620.27. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,891 shares in the company, valued at $856,111.83. The trade was a 8.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,240 shares of company stock valued at $10,800,555. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.