First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA Decreases Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA lessened its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,488 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the first quarter worth $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 100.0% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Rockwell Automation during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. This represents a 11.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Blake D. Moret sold 26,700 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.63, for a total transaction of $7,973,421.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 28,746 shares of company stock worth $8,560,594. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of 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 raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.13.

Rockwell Automation Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ROK traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $297.03. The company had a trading volume of 33,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 892,962. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $242.81 and a fifty-two week high of $312.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $267.48. The stock has a market cap of $33.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.42% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. This is a boost 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 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.