Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Boosts Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,130 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $7,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ROK. UBS Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $305.00 to $360.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Berenberg Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $290.00 target price (down from $330.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $324.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $330.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.08.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock traded up $3.62 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $273.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 888,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,035,035. The business has a fifty day moving average of $282.72 and a 200 day moving average of $284.05. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.11 and a 1-year high of $348.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $31.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.43.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.62 by ($0.58). Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 37.22%. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 11.98 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Nicholas C. Gangestad sold 1,989 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.17, for a total transaction of $573,170.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,520,572.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Brian A. Shepherd sold 637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.87, for a total value of $167,448.19. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,337,482.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Nicholas C. Gangestad sold 1,989 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.17, for a total transaction of $573,170.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,520,572.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,877 shares of company stock worth $5,058,772 in the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.