Hoertkorn Richard Charles Cuts Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Hoertkorn Richard Charles reduced its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 50.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Hoertkorn Richard Charles’ holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $71,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 95.8% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 99.1% during the fourth 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 period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 34,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 462,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $132,554,000 after buying an additional 25,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 7.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens raised shares of Rockwell Automation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $275.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $257.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas cut Rockwell Automation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.42.

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

In related news, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total transaction of $255,178.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,633 shares in the company, valued at $490,242.93. This represents a 34.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Isaac Woods sold 895 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,114.56. This represents a 42.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,352 shares of company stock worth $1,246,298 in the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.3 %

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $268.50 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $308.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $30.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $279.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $278.65.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.22. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.17% and a net margin of 11.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 65.26%.

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.