SG Americas Securities LLC Decreases Stake in Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK)

SG Americas Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by 38.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,404 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,436 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Rockwell Automation were worth $1,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 438,356 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Rockwell Automation by 951.4% in 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 buying an additional 5,006,706 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Rockwell Automation by 32.0% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,510,019 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $439,912,000 after acquiring an additional 365,795 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted 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 valued at $278,387,000 after acquiring an additional 54,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Rockwell Automation from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Rockwell Automation in a research note on Monday, July 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $256.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Rockwell Automation in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Rockwell Automation from $245.00 to $227.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Rockwell Automation from $293.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $283.60.

Rockwell Automation Stock Down 0.4 %

Rockwell Automation stock opened at $266.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.04. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a one year low of $242.81 and a one year high of $312.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $262.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $268.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 1.36.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Rockwell Automation, Inc. will post 9.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Rockwell Automation declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.