GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 31.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 478 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ROK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,048,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,092,891,000 after acquiring an additional 438,356 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 5,006,706 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,510,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $439,912,000 after acquiring an additional 365,795 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Rockwell Automation by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 955,574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $278,387,000 after acquiring an additional 54,948 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its stake 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Rockwell Automation in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rockwell Automation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $283.60.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE ROK opened at $266.16 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $262.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.36. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a 52 week low of $242.81 and a 52 week high of $312.76.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted 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 company had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Rockwell Automation had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 34.09%. Rockwell Automation’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase 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 shares are undervalued.

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.