Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 16,645 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Rockwell Automation by 9.9%, currently holding 151,488 shares valued at approximately $39.1 million.
• Significant institutional investment changes occurred in Rockwell Automation, with Wellington Management increasing its stake by a staggering 85,513.1%, now owning over 675,000 shares.
• Rockwell Automation reported quarterly earnings surpassing estimates, with $2.45 EPS, but revenue declined by 5.9% year-over-year, totaling $2 billion.

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 151,488 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 16,645 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Rockwell Automation worth $39,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter worth approximately $134,000. Vestcor Inc boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 2,304 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,932,000. WIM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. WIM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 51,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $13,307,000 after acquiring an additional 11,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,060,000. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ROK shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $341.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.35, for a total transaction of $171,134.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $319,819.05. This represents a 34.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the vice president owned 1,691 shares in the company, valued at $551,790.21. This represents a 14.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,757 shares of company stock valued at $3,138,220 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:ROK traded down $2.81 on Tuesday, reaching $347.35. The company had a trading volume of 613,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 921,355. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.00 and a twelve month high of $360.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $335.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $293.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 11.38%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Rockwell Automation's payout ratio is presently 65.99%.

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.