King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 18,430 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 441,948 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,430 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $118,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.0% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.9% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.9% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.7% in the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pitcairn Co. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.2% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,096 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $280.08 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $31.62 billion, a PE ratio of 33.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rockwell Automation news, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at $1,363,536. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ROK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.13.

Rockwell Automation Company 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.