Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC Trims Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,952 shares during the quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $5,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,611,915,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006,706 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,326,000 after purchasing an additional 933,025 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,135,000 after purchasing an additional 700,745 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,092,891,000 after acquiring an additional 438,356 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $118,345,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ROK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $256.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.47.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE ROK opened at $268.72 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $30.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $312.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $266.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.59.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.09% and a net margin of 11.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.31 per share. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.82%.

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.