Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Boosts Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 19.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 512 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% in 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 buying an additional 1,184,648 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% in 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 buying an additional 933,025 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% in 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 buying an additional 700,745 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,556,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,802,000 after buying an additional 390,784 shares during the period. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 484.5% in the 2nd quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 412,371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,779,000 after buying an additional 341,814 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $287.13.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK opened at $294.95 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $273.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $267.67. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52-week low of $242.81 and a 52-week high of $312.76. The firm has a market cap of $33.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Cyril Perducat sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,089,000. This represents a 21.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total value of $7,973,421.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. The trade was a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,746 shares of company stock worth $8,560,594. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.