California State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 170,379 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,193 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.15% of Rockwell Automation worth $48,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 141 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. TD Cowen raised Rockwell Automation from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $258.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Rockwell Automation from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $283.00 to $327.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.37.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Rockwell Automation stock traded up $2.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $314.81. The company had a trading volume of 845,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,036. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.00 and a 1 year high of $316.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $35.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.32. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $264.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.21.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.36. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.50 EPS. The company's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.99%.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.13, for a total transaction of $760,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $314,166.29. This trade represents a 70.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,231 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.43, for a total transaction of $351,364.33. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,041,819.50. This trade represents a 25.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,839 shares of company stock valued at $2,014,256 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

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.