Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Sells 23,866 Shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. trimmed its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 88.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 23,866 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ROK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 951.4% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 5,006,706 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 700,745 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rockwell Automation by 3.2% in the first 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. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation during the first quarter valued at approximately $118,345,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 82.4% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 859,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $250,461,000 after acquiring an additional 388,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Rockwell Automation Price Performance

ROK stock opened at $261.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $29.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $264.75 and its 200 day moving average is $269.64. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 34.09% and a net margin of 11.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.01 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 5th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $305.00 to $293.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $304.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Rockwell Automation presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $282.80.

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.