Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. Has $405,000 Stock Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 42.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,046 shares during the quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 33.2% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 95.8% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 2,582 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at approximately $912,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 6.0% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ROK. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Stephens upgraded Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. 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. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.16.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total value of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,363,536. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,436 shares of company stock worth $10,832,549 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK opened at $288.08 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $288.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $275.18. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $307.71. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $32.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.79, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

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.