Rockwell Automation, Inc. $ROK Position Increased by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 81.2%, acquiring 42,148 additional shares to bring its total ownership to approximately 94,025 shares valued at $23.99 million.
• Multiple analysts have raised their ratings and price targets for Rockwell Automation, with Bank of America upgrading the stock to a "buy" rating and increasing its target price to $410.00.
• Rockwell Automation recently reported earnings exceeding expectations, with a net revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter and an EPS of $2.82, above the consensus estimate of $2.67.

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK - Free Report) by 81.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,025 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 42,148 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.08% of Rockwell Automation worth $23,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ROK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,115,280 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,033,476,000 after buying an additional 432,934 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 11.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 191,370 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 0.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 9,920 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 2.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,448,160 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $374,176,000 after purchasing an additional 30,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,391,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $397,628,000 after purchasing an additional 171,604 shares during the last quarter. 75.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of ROK stock traded down $0.3610 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $339.2590. The company had a trading volume of 531,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 944,565. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.06. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.00 and a twelve month high of $360.92. The company has a market capitalization of $38.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.39. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $340.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $297.42.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $2.82 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.71 EPS. Rockwell Automation's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.31 per share. This represents a $5.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Rockwell Automation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.50%.

Insider Activity at Rockwell Automation

In other Rockwell Automation news, SVP Christopher Nardecchia sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.31, for a total transaction of $179,796.81. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,711 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,147,726.41. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Matheus De A. G. Viera Bulho sold 526 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.35, for a total value of $171,134.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $319,819.05. This represents a 34.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,818 shares of company stock worth $1,944,708 over the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ROK has been the subject of several analyst reports. CICC Research initiated coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $381.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $345.00 target price on Rockwell Automation and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $392.00 price target (up from $371.00) on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.16.

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.