Sapient Capital LLC Makes New $260,000 Investment in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 838 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ROK. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $310.00 to $304.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $269.00 to $265.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Berenberg Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $290.00 price target (down previously from $330.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $357.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $309.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Blake D. Moret acquired 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $283.64 per share, for a total transaction of $992,740.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 77,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,901,262.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Blake D. Moret purchased 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $283.64 per share, for a total transaction of $992,740.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,901,262.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Rebecca W. House sold 13,900 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.02, for a total transaction of $3,933,978.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,400,575.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,240 shares of company stock valued at $4,891,324. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK opened at $272.04 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $281.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $283.11. The company has a market capitalization of $31.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.11 and a 1 year high of $348.52.

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

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 47.57%.

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.