Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Purchases 5,000 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 277.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,802 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd's holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 33.5% during the third 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 last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the third 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 last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 986,849 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $264,929,000 after purchasing an additional 41,605 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $251,326,000 after buying an additional 933,025 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 842,012 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $231,789,000 after buying an additional 48,951 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ROK traded down $1.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $294.95. 637,054 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 895,603. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $273.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.86. The firm has a market cap of $33.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $242.81 and a fifty-two week high of $312.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. 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 previous year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation's quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. The trade was a 25.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,746 shares of company stock valued at $8,560,594 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ROK shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $345.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $287.13.

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.