Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Purchases 1,458 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC increased its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 166,890 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,458 shares during the period. Rockwell Automation accounts for approximately 2.5% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC owned about 0.15% of Rockwell Automation worth $47,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth about $284,177,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 85,513.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 675,487 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $193,047,000 after acquiring an additional 674,698 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 102.3% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,287,731 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $368,021,000 after acquiring an additional 651,116 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 432,934 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,073,594 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $580,095,000 after buying an additional 430,498 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:ROK traded up $4.43 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $306.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,197,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,630. The company has a market capitalization of $34.51 billion, a PE ratio of 38.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $258.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $275.81. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.00 and a 52 week high of $310.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 293 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.68, for a total value of $75,500.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $495,260.96. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.13, for a total value of $760,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $314,166.29. This represents a 70.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,839 shares of company stock valued at $2,014,256 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on ROK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $310.37.

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.