Prudential Financial Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 61,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,845 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.05% of Rockwell Automation worth $17,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at $1,330,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 151,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,321,000 after purchasing an additional 25,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth about $11,023,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ROK shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $285.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total value of $245,874.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,114.56. The trade was a 42.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.43, for a total transaction of $351,364.33. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,819.50. This trade represents a 25.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,246,298 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $268.50 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $279.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $278.65. The firm has a market cap of $30.36 billion, a PE ratio of 33.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. 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.

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

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.26%.

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.