Barclays PLC Reduces Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Barclays PLC lessened its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 231,092 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,123 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.20% of Rockwell Automation worth $62,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ROK. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 100.0% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Rockwell Automation in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on Rockwell Automation from $313.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised Rockwell Automation from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp raised shares of Rockwell Automation from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $345.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $301.17.

Rockwell Automation Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of ROK opened at $302.92 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $279.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $269.50. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $312.76. The company has a market capitalization of $34.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.58, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.07. The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. This is a positive change from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.29%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Rockwell Automation

In other news, VP Scott Genereux sold 278 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.04, for a total value of $83,967.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $961,695.36. This represents a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $7,973,421.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,327,482.45. This trade represents a 25.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,541 shares of company stock worth $10,586,674. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Company 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.