Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ROK. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Rockwell Automation by 543.5% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 14,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,172,000 after purchasing an additional 12,327 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Rockwell Automation by 7.1% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $681,000. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 6.1% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 60,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,485,000 after purchasing an additional 3,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.5% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $298.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $272.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $267.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $33.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 1-year low of $242.81 and a 1-year high of $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 3,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,089,000. This represents a 21.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $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 have sold 28,746 shares of company stock valued at $8,560,594 over the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ROK. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.