Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Position Lifted by GHP Investment Advisors Inc.

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,348 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,532 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $13,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,424 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,401,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,063 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter valued at about $281,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 14,478 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth about $8,289,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ROK. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $360.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Barclays raised shares of Rockwell Automation from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $283.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $271.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. BNP Paribas raised Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $317.79.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE ROK traded down $3.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $322.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 646,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 871,517. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.00 and a 52-week high of $328.90. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $293.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $281.40.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $2 billion for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. Research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Rockwell Automation's payout ratio is 65.99%.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Matthew W. Fordenwalt sold 223 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.97, for a total transaction of $70,015.31. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,209 shares in the company, valued at $1,007,529.73. This trade represents a 6.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 293 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.68, for a total value of $75,500.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $495,260.96. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,681 shares of company stock valued at $2,382,987 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

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.