Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) Shares Sold by Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 606 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ROK. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 336.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,307 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,956,000 after acquiring an additional 21,051 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,122 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 50.9% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 40,791 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,237,000 after acquiring an additional 13,760 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $345.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $313.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $287.13.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of ROK stock opened at $297.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $33.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $268.16. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $312.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The business 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 revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. 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 dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

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

Insider Transactions at Rockwell Automation

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 owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John M. Miller sold 467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.07, for a total value of $132,660.69. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,363,536. This represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,746 shares of company stock valued at $9,152,594. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.