Golden State Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $714,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.2% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 95.8% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 99.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 2,582 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $912,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, 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 value of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at $23,327,482.45. This trade represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director James P. Keane sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.00, for a total value of $592,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,409,328. This trade represents a 14.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,857 shares of company stock worth $10,678,037. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ROK shares. HSBC upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.16.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK stock opened at $268.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $30.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $286.26 and its 200 day moving average is $275.01. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $304.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.64 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation 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.