Northcape Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,428 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,127 shares during the quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Rockwell Automation by 951.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,532,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,611,915,000 after acquiring an additional 5,006,706 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its position in Rockwell Automation by 162,058.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 1,185,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $318,227,000 after buying an additional 1,184,648 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Rockwell Automation by 29,591.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,326,000 after buying an additional 933,025 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 1,119.3% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 763,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,135,000 after acquiring an additional 700,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,092,891,000 after acquiring an additional 438,356 shares during the period. 75.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Veena M. Lakkundi sold 579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.86, for a total transaction of $154,511.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,221,151.36. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ROK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $288.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho raised their target price on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $286.13.

Rockwell Automation Stock Performance

Shares of Rockwell Automation stock opened at $286.15 on Friday. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $312.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $269.16 and its 200-day moving average is $266.87. The firm has a market cap of $32.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.36.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 30.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is 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 paid a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Rockwell Automation’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Rockwell Automation’s dividend payout ratio is 60.39%.

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.