Nordea Investment Management AB Buys 25,882 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 462,537 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,882 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 0.41% of Rockwell Automation worth $132,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in 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 buying an additional 1,184,648 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 933,025 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 33.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 390,784 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 484.5% in the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 412,371 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $104,779,000 after acquiring an additional 341,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Interval Partners LP raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 479,608.6% during the second quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 335,656 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $92,399,000 after purchasing an additional 335,726 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Rockwell Automation from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $345.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $301.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total transaction of $83,967.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $961,695.36. The trade was a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,541 shares of company stock valued at $10,586,674. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ROK traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $281.64. The stock had a trading volume of 557,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 562,121. The company has a market cap of $31.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.01, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $307.71. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $286.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $273.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation's payout ratio is currently 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.