Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 10,150 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC sold 10,150 shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc., reducing its holdings by 9.5% to approximately 96,287 shares.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc., have increased their stakes in Rockwell Automation during the first quarter.
• Rockwell Automation reported better-than-expected earnings of $2.82 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates of $2.67 EPS.

Gabelli Funds LLC decreased its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 96,287 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 10,150 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Rockwell Automation worth $24,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $470,091,000 after purchasing an additional 191,370 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,579,956 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $408,229,000 after buying an additional 9,920 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,448,160 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $374,176,000 after purchasing an additional 30,837 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,396,303 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $360,777,000 after purchasing an additional 4,972 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,158,161 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $330,991,000 after acquiring an additional 29,350 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $392.00 target price (up from $371.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $381.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.16.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $356.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $342.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.82. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.00 and a 1-year high of $360.92. The firm has a market cap of $40.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.31, for a total value of $179,796.81. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,711 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,147,726.41. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.08, for a total transaction of $735,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,033 shares in the company, valued at $361,632.64. The trade was a 67.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,818 shares of company stock worth $3,012,888. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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