GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Has $13.95 Million Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,258 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $13,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 102.5% in the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,641,000 after acquiring an additional 4,678 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $958,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,496 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,330,000 after purchasing an additional 2,472 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 4th quarter valued at about $590,000. Finally, Ninety One North America Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 34,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $270.36 on Thursday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $304.29. The company has a market capitalization of $30.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $287.28 and a 200 day moving average of $275.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted 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 net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.72, for a total value of $245,874.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at $329,114.56. This trade represents a 42.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 1,121 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total transaction of $338,553.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 81,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,690,525.54. This represents a 1.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,857 shares of company stock valued at $10,678,037 over the last ninety days. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.