Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Shares Sold by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC reduced its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 231,092 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,123 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.20% of Rockwell Automation worth $62,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,033 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.7% during the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.2% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 1,928 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.7% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 990 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.1% during the second quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares of the company's stock, 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 have sold a total of 35,541 shares of company stock valued at $10,586,674 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ROK. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $301.17.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE ROK traded down $5.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $297.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,307,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 893,183. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $280.23 and a 200 day moving average of $269.73. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $312.76.

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

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 1.76%. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

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.