GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 48,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,258 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $13,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,648,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,247,839,000 after buying an additional 11,949 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,683,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $717,865,000 after acquiring an additional 14,040 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $417,802,000 after purchasing an additional 390,784 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,227,000 after buying an additional 1,184,648 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,128,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $303,041,000 after buying an additional 67,684 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK opened at $270.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $287.28 and a 200 day moving average of $275.09. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $242.81 and a fifty-two week high of $304.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price target for the company. HSBC upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at $23,327,482.45. The trade was a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 1,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $329,114.56. This trade represents a 42.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,857 shares of company stock valued at $10,678,037 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.