Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Takes $339,000 Position in Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK

Key Points

• Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC invested $339,000 in Rockwell Automation, acquiring 1,311 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Research firms are optimistic about Rockwell Automation, with several firms setting price objectives above $370 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.31, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.5%, to be paid out on September 10th.

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,311 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 11.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,819,379 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $470,091,000 after acquiring an additional 191,370 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,579,956 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $408,229,000 after acquiring an additional 9,920 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,448,160 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $374,176,000 after acquiring an additional 30,837 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 0.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,396,303 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $360,777,000 after acquiring an additional 4,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,158,161 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $330,991,000 after acquiring an additional 29,350 shares in the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on ROK shares. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $371.00 to $363.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $392.00 price objective (up previously from $371.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.16.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

ROK stock traded down $5.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $344.97. The company had a trading volume of 545,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 762,274. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $345.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $303.90. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.00 and a fifty-two week high of $360.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.41.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.15. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 30.14% and a net margin of 12.03%.The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.71 earnings per share. Rockwell Automation's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rockwell Automation news, Director James P. Keane sold 3,000 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.06, for a total value of $1,068,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,272,903.52. The trade was a 24.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Terry L. Riesterer sold 2,100 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.08, for a total value of $735,168.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 1,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $361,632.64. The trade was a 67.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,922 shares of company stock valued at $11,191,812 over the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.