5,021 Shares in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Purchased by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,348,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 39,113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,500,000 after purchasing an additional 5,480 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,683,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $717,865,000 after purchasing an additional 14,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth $645,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. The trade was a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,541 shares of company stock valued at $10,586,674 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROK. HSBC raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $301.17.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE ROK opened at $302.92 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $312.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $269.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $34.20 billion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. Rockwell Automation’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.29%.

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.