Marathon Strategic Advisors LLC Invests $429,000 in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Marathon Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,000. Rockwell Automation comprises 0.5% of Marathon Strategic Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,648,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,247,839,000 after purchasing an additional 11,949 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,683,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $717,865,000 after buying an additional 14,040 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 390,784 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $318,227,000 after buying an additional 1,184,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,128,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $303,041,000 after buying an additional 67,684 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens raised shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.16.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In related news, 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 sale, the vice president now owns 3,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $961,695.36. This trade represents a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,436 shares of company stock worth $10,832,549 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE ROK opened at $289.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.91, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $307.71. The company has a fifty day moving average of $288.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $274.71. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.