Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Purchases Shares of 1,730 Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,730 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $464,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 128.0% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 18,909 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,205,000 after buying an additional 10,615 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 203.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 392 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,972 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $7,975,000 after buying an additional 2,410 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 10.7% in the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,218 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 45.3% in the second quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 1,875 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company's stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.9 %

ROK traded down $2.60 on Tuesday, hitting $293.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,238,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 894,197. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $281.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $270.41. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 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 period last year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation's revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other 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 transaction of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total value of $83,967.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,695.36. The trade was a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,541 shares of company stock worth $10,586,674. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. HSBC upgraded Rockwell Automation from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $355.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $301.17.

Rockwell Automation Company 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.