Bank of Montreal Can Grows Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 172,827 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,574 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.15% of Rockwell Automation worth $46,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 60,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,485,000 after purchasing an additional 3,425 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 3,238 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 34,433.3% in the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,072 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 2,066 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE ROK opened at $294.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $33.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $273.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $267.67.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.13.

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.