Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 76 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,648 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,326,000 after purchasing an additional 933,025 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,802,000 after purchasing an additional 390,784 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 484.5% during the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 412,371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,779,000 after purchasing an additional 341,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Interval Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 479,608.6% in the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 335,656 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,399,000 after buying an additional 335,726 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on ROK shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.16.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total value of $83,967.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,695.36. This represents a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 1,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $338,553.21. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 81,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,690,525.54. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,436 shares of company stock valued at $10,832,549 over the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $287.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $287.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $274.10. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $307.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

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.