Janus Henderson Group PLC Lowers Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Janus Henderson Group PLC reduced its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 813,194 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 36,651 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $236,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth $380,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 676.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 32,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,984,000 after acquiring an additional 28,016 shares during the period. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 85,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,562,000 after acquiring an additional 4,093 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 3,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Finally, Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter worth $2,003,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 659 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.11, for a total transaction of $171,412.49. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,204,309.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.11, for a total value of $171,412.49. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,204,309.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.78, for a total transaction of $133,995.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $943,554.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,199 shares of company stock worth $572,750 over the last ninety days. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on ROK. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $310.00 to $304.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $312.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $256.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $290.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $322.00 to $316.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $300.71.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK traded up $3.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $275.43. 527,243 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 970,933. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $265.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $276.41. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $249.00 and a 1-year high of $339.65.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 34.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.88%.

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.