Quantum Private Wealth LLC Trims Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Quantum Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 2.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,365 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,096 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ROK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.64.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 5.8 %

Shares of ROK stock opened at $277.09 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $312.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.49, a PEG ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.63.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.09%. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.82%.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of Rockwell Automation 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.