5,021 Shares in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,021 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,348,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ROK. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,648,137 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,247,839,000 after acquiring an additional 11,949 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,683,202 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $717,865,000 after purchasing an additional 14,040 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $417,802,000 after purchasing an additional 390,784 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $318,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,648 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,128,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $303,041,000 after buying an additional 67,684 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ROK. Barclays raised shares of Rockwell Automation from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $255.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $301.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total value of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,363,536. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,541 shares of company stock valued at $10,586,674 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

NYSE ROK traded down $5.64 on Friday, reaching $297.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,307,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 893,183. The firm's 50 day moving average is $280.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $269.73. The stock has a market cap of $33.56 billion, a PE ratio of 36.31, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Rockwell Automation's payout ratio is 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Rockwell Automation

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.