Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Buys 6,595 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 65.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,718 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,595 shares during the quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $4,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its stake in Rockwell Automation by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 10,402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,030,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Concord Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter valued at about $199,000. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter worth about $588,000. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,208,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Rockwell Automation by 70.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE ROK traded down $11.00 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $283.00. 278,871 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 870,290. The company has a market cap of $32.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.61 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $266.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.63.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.09%. Rockwell Automation’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its board has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $1.31 dividend. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ROK shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price 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, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.93.

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.