Sanctuary Advisors LLC Sells 102 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 102 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $3,843,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,648 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,326,000 after purchasing an additional 933,025 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,135,000 after purchasing an additional 700,745 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $417,802,000 after purchasing an additional 390,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 341,814 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ROK. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. HSBC raised shares of 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, December 11th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $301.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 1,121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $338,553.21. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 81,754 shares in the company, valued at $24,690,525.54. The trade was a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total value of $132,660.69. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at $1,363,536. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,541 shares of company stock valued at $10,586,674. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $296.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.76, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $281.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $270.41. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $312.76.

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

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

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

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.