Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $2.78 Million Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $2,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ROK. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in Rockwell Automation by 97.7% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth $3,104,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 85.7% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 34,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,458,000 after acquiring an additional 15,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $260,000. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $269.00 to $265.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Berenberg Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $290.00 price target (down previously from $330.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Rockwell Automation from $330.00 to $322.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $309.29.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.52, for a total transaction of $140,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at $1,229,519.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.52, for a total value of $140,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,383 shares in the company, valued at $1,229,519.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 13,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.02, for a total value of $3,933,978.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,400,575.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,240 shares of company stock worth $4,891,324 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock traded down $4.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $268.00. 294,381 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,010,995. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $281.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $283.11. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.11 and a 1 year high of $348.52. The company has a market capitalization of $30.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.43.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 37.22% and a net margin of 13.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.57%.

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.