Belmont Capital LLC Purchases New Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Key Points

• Belmont Capital LLC has invested approximately $269,000 in Rockwell Automation, purchasing 1,042 shares during the first quarter.
• Insider selling activity includes SVP Cyril Perducat, who sold 1,435 shares valued at nearly $500,000, decreasing his ownership by 27.48%.
• Rockwell Automation's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.82, exceeding expectations, with revenue growth of 4.5% year-over-year.

Belmont Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,042 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 8.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,424 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,401,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.8% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,652 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at $281,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 128.7% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 4,382 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,466 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROK has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $392.00 price objective (up from $371.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Bank of America raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $410.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective 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. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.16.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.35, for a total transaction of $171,134.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 983 shares in the company, valued at $319,819.05. The trade was a 34.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,435 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.08, for a total transaction of $499,494.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $1,318,178.96. This represents a 27.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,445 shares of company stock worth $3,267,779 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:ROK traded down $2.61 on Friday, hitting $339.26. 539,564 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 831,771. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $345.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $302.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.00 and a 52 week high of $360.92. The company has a market cap of $38.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

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

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.