B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Acquires 2,156 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 13.6%, acquiring an additional 2,156 shares, bringing total ownership to 18,029 shares worth approximately $4.66 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly adjusted their holdings in Rockwell Automation, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising their position by 29,844.4%, now owning 702,794 shares valued at nearly $181.59 million.
• Rockwell Automation reported better-than-expected earnings for the last quarter, with $2.82 EPS exceeding analyst forecasts, alongside a quarterly revenue of $2.14 billion.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 13.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,029 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,156 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $4,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 29,844.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 702,794 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $181,588,000 after acquiring an additional 700,447 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the first quarter valued at approximately $63,632,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 213.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 357,080 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $92,263,000 after acquiring an additional 243,249 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 11.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,819,379 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $470,091,000 after acquiring an additional 191,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,391,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $397,628,000 after acquiring an additional 171,604 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ROK shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $345.00 price target on shares of Rockwell Automation and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.16.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, Director James P. Keane sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.06, for a total value of $1,068,180.00. Following the sale, the director owned 9,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,272,903.52. This represents a 24.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 526 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.35, for a total transaction of $171,134.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 983 shares in the company, valued at $319,819.05. The trade was a 34.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,368 shares of company stock valued at $2,871,129. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.8%

NYSE ROK opened at $349.20 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $342.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.16. The stock has a market cap of $39.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.39. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.00 and a 12-month high of $360.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.07 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 30.14%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio is presently 61.50%.

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.

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