Connable Office Inc. Lowers Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Connable Office Inc. reduced its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,145 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,922 shares during the period. Connable Office Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ROK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% during the first 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 buying an additional 5,006,706 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $318,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,648 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $251,326,000 after acquiring an additional 933,025 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in 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 period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 438,356 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ROK. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho increased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. UBS Group began coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $285.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:ROK opened at $286.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $312.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $267.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.69.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 60.39%.

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

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.