Curi RMB Capital LLC Buys 116 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Curi RMB Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 3.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,289 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.2% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 214,999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,719,000 after acquiring an additional 4,563 shares during the period. Summit Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 44.9% in the third quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC now owns 3,874 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,040,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 49.0% in the third quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 17,657 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,740,000 after acquiring an additional 5,807 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.4% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 56,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,199,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Saturna Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.3% in the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 301,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,887,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total value of $154,511.94. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ROK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 price target for the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.13.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $286.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $32.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12 month low of $242.81 and a 12 month high of $312.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $268.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.83.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

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

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.