Hemenway Trust Co LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Hemenway Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,436 shares during the quarter. Rockwell Automation comprises about 2.5% of Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $31,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,876,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,965,774,000 after purchasing an additional 81,079 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,648,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,247,839,000 after buying an additional 11,949 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,734,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $779,426,000 after acquiring an additional 51,228 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $580,095,000 after acquiring an additional 430,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,570,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $448,701,000 after acquiring an additional 13,744 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ROK shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $345.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens raised shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $315.00 to $337.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $285.00 to $280.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total value of $245,874.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,114.56. This represents a 42.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total transaction of $255,178.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $490,242.93. This represents a 34.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,352 shares of company stock worth $1,246,298. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $227.25 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $218.48 and a 12-month high of $308.70. The company has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $274.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $278.24.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.17% and a net margin of 11.38%. Equities research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.26%.

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.