Trexquant Investment LP Purchases New Shares in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP invested approximately $5.15 million in Rockwell Automation, acquiring 19,928 shares during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including AXA S.A. and Brighton Jones LLC, have also recently modified their holdings in Rockwell Automation.
• Rockwell Automation announced a quarterly dividend of $1.31, with a dividend yield of 1.5%, set to be paid on September 10th.

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 19,928 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $5,149,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,844.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 702,794 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $181,588,000 after acquiring an additional 700,447 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the first quarter valued at approximately $63,632,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 213.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 357,080 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $92,263,000 after buying an additional 243,249 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in 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 valued at $470,091,000 after buying an additional 191,370 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 1,287.3% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 159,481 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,221,000 after buying an additional 147,985 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $381.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $371.00 to $363.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $350.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.16.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of ROK traded down $2.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $339.26. The stock had a trading volume of 539,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 831,771. The firm has a market cap of $38.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.82, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.41. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.00 and a 12 month high of $360.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $345.38 and a 200 day moving average of $302.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Rockwell Automation's payout ratio is 61.50%.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, Director James P. Keane sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.06, for a total value of $1,068,180.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,272,903.52. The trade was a 24.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,435 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.08, for a total transaction of $499,494.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $1,318,178.96. This trade represents a 27.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,445 shares of company stock valued at $3,267,779. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.