Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Has $1.60 Million Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS reduced its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 84.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 31,105 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 100.0% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 455.6% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price objective for the company. Stephens raised Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total transaction of $255,178.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,633 shares in the company, valued at $490,242.93. This represents a 34.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,240 shares of company stock worth $10,800,555 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $299.27 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $286.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $276.50. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $308.70. The firm has a market cap of $33.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.26%.

Rockwell Automation 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.