Insider Selling: Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) VP Sells $83,967.12 in Stock

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total value of $83,967.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,695.36. This represents a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Scott Genereux also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, December 5th, Scott Genereux sold 279 shares of Rockwell Automation stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.13, for a total value of $82,620.27.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK opened at $302.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $312.76. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $279.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $269.50.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rockwell Automation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ROK. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,648 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,326,000 after purchasing an additional 933,025 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,135,000 after purchasing an additional 700,745 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,802,000 after purchasing an additional 390,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 484.5% in the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 412,371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,779,000 after purchasing an additional 341,814 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $301.17.

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.