QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 65 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 95.8% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 99.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after buying an additional 2,582 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the third quarter worth about $912,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,184,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ROK. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. HSBC raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas lowered Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” 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 target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP Isaac Woods sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.03, for a total value of $248,810.28. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,219.71. This represents a 45.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total transaction of $83,967.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $961,695.36. The trade was a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,147 shares of company stock worth $2,680,378 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 3.1 %

ROK stock opened at $278.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $285.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $278.69. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $242.81 and a fifty-two week high of $308.70. The firm has a market cap of $31.46 billion, a PE ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is currently 65.26%.

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.