Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 6,900 Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 6,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,142,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ROK. Markel Corp increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.3% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 152,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,816,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 10.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 57,480 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,221,000 after acquiring an additional 5,386 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the first quarter valued at approximately $642,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.0% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,472,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,212,750,000 after acquiring an additional 106,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $278.65 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $283.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $284.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.93 billion, a PE ratio of 26.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.43. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.11 and a 1-year high of $348.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.62 by ($0.58). Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.22% and a net margin of 13.35%. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 12.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $269.00 to $265.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $254.00 target price on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Berenberg Bank restated a “hold” rating and issued a $290.00 target price (down previously from $330.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $324.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.08.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $691,070. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 13,900 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.02, for a total transaction of $3,933,978.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,400,575.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,383 shares in the company, valued at $691,070. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,877 shares of company stock worth $5,058,772. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.