B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 138 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,404 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,256,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $464,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the third quarter valued at about $1,348,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 34.5% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 16.3% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 39,113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,500,000 after purchasing an additional 5,480 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ROK. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group assumed 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 for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $301.17.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK opened at $286.00 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $282.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.89. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $312.76. The company has a market cap of $32.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.54, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.08 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 the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. Rockwell Automation’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. This is a boost from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

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

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other 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 transaction of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,363,536. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was 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 directly 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,541 shares of company stock valued at $10,586,674. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.