Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Stake Raised by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 357.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,105 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $10,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 100.0% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 455.6% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the second quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, Director James P. Keane sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.00, for a total transaction of $592,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,409,328. The trade was a 14.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,327,482.45. This trade represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,436 shares of company stock valued at $10,832,549 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $287.06 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $274.25. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $307.71. The stock has a market cap of $32.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.67, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 target price on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, HSBC upgraded 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.16.

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.