Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 199,051 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $56,887,000. Rockwell Automation comprises about 0.7% of Proficio Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.18% of Rockwell Automation at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 95.8% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 99.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,187 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,482,000 after buying an additional 2,582 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $912,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,184,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 462,537 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $132,554,000 after acquiring an additional 25,882 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ROK. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. HSBC upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $355.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.68.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK traded up $1.69 during trading on Monday, hitting $261.88. 688,219 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 824,972. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $308.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $282.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $278.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 30.17%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.14, for a total value of $145,070.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $552,716.70. This trade represents a 20.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tessa M. Myers sold 1,231 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.43, for a total value of $351,364.33. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,041,819.50. This trade represents a 25.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,352 shares of company stock valued at $1,246,298 over the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.