Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,882 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 723 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $7,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,648,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,247,839,000 after buying an additional 11,949 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,683,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $717,865,000 after purchasing an additional 14,040 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $417,802,000 after purchasing an additional 390,784 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in 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 period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,128,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $303,041,000 after buying an additional 67,684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas began coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, Director James P. Keane sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.00, for a total transaction of $592,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,409,328. This represents a 14.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,436 shares of company stock valued at $10,832,549 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $290.73 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.81. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $307.71. The company has a market capitalization of $32.86 billion, a PE ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. Research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend 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.