Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Stock Position Raised by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 3.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 419,865 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,758 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $115,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 8.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,979,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,092 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,604,000 after buying an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 6,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the second quarter valued at approximately $350,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE ROK opened at $263.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $265.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $242.81 and a twelve month high of $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.01 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on ROK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of 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 assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $293.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $282.80.

About Rockwell Automation

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.