1776 Wealth LLC Sells 79 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

1776 Wealth LLC lessened its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 6.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 79 shares during the period. 1776 Wealth LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. 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 worth $4,092,891,000 after purchasing an additional 438,356 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 5,006,706 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,510,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $439,912,000 after acquiring an additional 365,795 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,648 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 986,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $264,929,000 after acquiring an additional 41,605 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

NYSE:ROK traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $286.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,110,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 883,885. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $312.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $269.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $266.87. The company has a market capitalization of $32.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $286.13.

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.