Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 102.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,403 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $2,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 14.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,197 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.2% during the third quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 2,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth about $322,000. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 10.2% during the third quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE now owns 11,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 4.8% during the third quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,225,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ROK opened at $268.72 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 12-month low of $242.81 and a 12-month high of $312.76. The company has a market capitalization of $30.49 billion, a PE ratio of 30.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $266.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.69.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.63. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.09%. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. 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. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.82%.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ROK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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 report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.47.

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.