DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Buys 39,941 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 9.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 456,965 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 39,941 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.40% of Rockwell Automation worth $116,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,876,530 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,965,774,000 after purchasing an additional 81,079 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,115,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,033,476,000 after purchasing an additional 432,934 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,734,430 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $779,426,000 after buying an additional 51,228 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,417,323 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $405,057,000 after buying an additional 53,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,391,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $397,628,000 after buying an additional 171,604 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $258.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $327.20.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.4%

Rockwell Automation stock traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $340.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 59,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 933,635. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $38.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $309.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $283.65. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.00 and a 12 month high of $348.43.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Isaac Woods sold 297 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.31, for a total transaction of $96,914.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $551,790.21. This represents a 14.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 551 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.31, for a total transaction of $179,796.81. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 12,711 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,147,726.41. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,388 shares of company stock valued at $2,307,487 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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